The Second Act
by PiedpiperofTamlyin
Summary: A retelling of the GE2RB storyline with more story and plenty of twists and turns. New friends to make, new enemies and plenty of blasts from the past. This is going to be different.
1. Chapter 1

AN: hello all, this is my second piece of FF ever written and it will continue with the storyline as seen in God eater 2 Rage burst. Of course it's not exactly an FF without a few creative twists and changes that I hope will liven things up. Anyway let's get this show on the road

End of the line

The skies above were clouded with fires that stretched all the way to the top and smoke from all around. The ground was littered with the bodies of the dead as far as the eye can see. This was peaceful and calm land a long time ago but that was in the past. It was now a cruel and bloody battlefield in which lives were lost everyday.

The sole cause for all of this was not a man or a machine at all. It was in fact a wolf, this black wolf with fur that seemed to be plucked out of the shadows was the reason why this world has become the way it is now.

The wolf had endured an unimaginable and insurmountable in coming here and it could be seen in how laboured its steps were. Each time its paws pushed its body forward, drops of blood fell onto the white marble steps, stretching all the way to the bottom.

The wolf stood at the top at last and found that it was standing in the middle of a coliseum. It was a place where warriors once faced off in battle and their fates were decided by the voice of the people.

Today however there were no people. There was no audience to watch, there was only an unholy silence that filled the arena as the wolf made its way to the centre to face the enemy that waited for him at the end of the line.

Adorned in armour befitting the highest of the high and wielding a sword that could cleave mountains, the queen of the world stood waiting for her wolf

When it came to a halt, she spoke

"You've done well to come here", she declared not once losing the air of regality she carried with her "To have accomplished this much is certainly notable".

The wolf stood its ground.

"But I'm sure you of all must see how this all plays out", she declared opening her arms out wide "You cannot win this wolf, you are destined to die here like an animal, your existence erased from the world and you will fade to nothingness".

"But I offer you a chance, a singular chance to change your fate", she added "Sheathe your fangs and I promise you a place by my side. A wolf as powerful and ferocious like yourself is certain to be a great asset. Join me and I will help you achieve all that you desire. You will be able to accomplish everything you've ever wanted…. If you but swear your loyalty to me".

In response to her, the wolf began to cackle. Its voice echoed throughout the empty coliseum and its tone spat at the request laid before it.

"You think.." it spoke "That after all that I've gone through I am going to simply stop all of it just because you asked?"

"Let me tell you something here plain and clear", it spoke with words that fit a wolf of its status "I came here not to fight for a queen but to wage war. I came here to burn your cities to the ground, destroy all your soldiers, render your armies completely useless and when it is done, when the fires have gone out and the dust has settled I will take back my princess".

"So your intentions are finally revealed", said the Queen "It is not revenge that motivates you and your fangs, it is your love for my daughter".

"She ain't your daughter", countered the wolf, its voice crass as ever.

"Just to remind you now, I don't give a damn to your offer, I spit at your offer", continued the wolf "This war started when you fired the first shot and I'm firing the final one".

"Very well wolf", said the queen chuckle "If death is what you wish for to meet you at the end of your journey then so be it".

She brandished her sword, pointing the blade defiantly at the wolf and said "Come then wolf, come and I will wrench the last breath from your accursed body".

The wolf bore its fangs and the queen showed her sword. They charged towards each other, ready to finish the war once and for all.

On one side was the selfless and virtuous queen who carried the weight of the kingdom on her back. All those souls that were lost, all the lives that fell in this war; she shouldered them all on her and as long as she stood, she would never fall to her enemy.

On the other side was the wolf. The singular entity of death and destruction that arrived from out of nowhere and seemingly spelled the doom of the whole kingdom

Though only one, the blood that it spilled and the corpses it piled up were a testament to the horror and insatiable avarice that lurked inside the wolf. It had neared the end of its war and all that stood before it was the accursed and damned queen that started everything. No matter how much it was hurt, no matter how much blood it lost, it would fight and keep on till it overcomes the final obstacle.

The two met in the middle, fangs versus steel and thus they began their fight.

AN: well there we go that's how I'm starting this whole thing off. Makes no sense? Yeah it might so read the first FF I've written and I'm sure you'll guess what's going on here.

Now the next chapter will actually start with the actual start of the game. Please review or favourite this FF if you like it and if you find any spelling errors or something let me know.

Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Now let's all get back to the regular things.

Orientation

Sitting in a chair with a single light shining down of him, the boy took a deep breath to answer the first question… what is your earliest childhood memory?

He recalled a time when his mom, dad and himself were running away from a group of attacking aragami. They rounded corners and went through house after house to gain some distance but the pursuing ogretail was more adamant than ever. It chased them down like a heat seeking missile.

When he turned around expecting to see the aragami, he saw a god eater standing in between the predator and its prey. He never got a good picture of the god eater but he remembered the sword that they carried and the air they carried themselves.

Though he never saw their faces, he knew he had given a satisfactory answer.

Truth be told, that whole story was a total lie, one that was made up on a whim at the last second. Truth was, his earliest memory of childhood was a hellish one but he was not in the mood to talk about that.

When he joined the esteemed organization, he planned to cut himself free from his past and the demons that inhabited it. He spent years going through the necessary training procedures, steeling his body and his mind in preparation for that all important interview.

Now here he was entering the metal room with a single device at the centre. This device is the reason why so many children had given up their childhood and took up arms against the impossible enemy that plagued humanity.

He placed his hand into the necessary slot and watched the device clamp down on him. Instantly he felt a terrible pain shooting up from his left arm but he endured, telling himself that it was nothing.

Finally the pain subsided and the device opened up, revealing a black and gold coloured armlet, a mark and a constant reminder that the days of his youth are over. He was now a soldier in a never ending war.

'Days of youth?' he thought bitterly in his mind and scoffed at the idea. When others children had it marginally less tougher, his was the worst childhood you can imagine. He shook his head once again and was told to go to his room and change out of his uniform into something casual.

He decided to wear on a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow and a black vest on top. The boy wore on a pair of black pants with a gold chain on his left side that had a pocket watch stored away in his pocket. Finally he fixed the laces on his military boots to make sure that his clothes were proper. He took a moment to examine himself in the mirror and tried to set his ash brown hair but it still looked like he'd just woke up. He looked a little closer and rubbed away the sleep from his emerald coloured eyes and looked once again in the mirror.

Nodding to himself he headed out the door and to the main room to meet his boss and leader. When he got there he found a girl dressed in a mourning dress busily typing on the giant computer before her. Beside the girl stood a young man with blond hair and he turned to the new entrant and said "He's arrived".

The boy quickly saluted then said "Damien Andronight, ready to serve".

"My, my there's no need for such formalities here", said the girl with a warm smile "My name is Rachel Claudius and you could think of me as your superior but I'd prefer it if you think of me as a mother".

"And this here is the leader of my esteemed unit, Julius Visconti".

Damien took a moment to examine Julius. He had blond eyes to match his hair, his jacket was also at half length like him but he had a thin red bow attached to the front zipper and a white button down shirt that had a purple cardigan underneath it. There was also a black collar with a gold buckle around his neck and a pair of black military pants and sturdy boots with gold accents.

Julius nodded to Damien saying "Good to meet you cadet, I hope that we will get along well".

"Yes sir", responded Damien like a soldier and saluted once more.

"Tell me", said Julius rubbing his chin "Do you know about the Blood unit and why you've joined?"

"I know that I have a higher bias factor than the regular god eaters", said Damien "But that's about it".

"Blood is a special forces unit created by Dr. Rachel Claudius with the purpose of uniting those with innate talents such as yourself and I".

"You see because you have a higher bias factor", continued Rachel "It means that you are able to invoke a power that only few in this world have claim over. I call it the blood power as it relates to the human body and the wonders that it can bring about if given the right opportunity."

"Think of it like a super power", she said with an amused chuckle "You have that power too but have yet to awaken it but not to worry, we're not expecting you to awaken on the first day. In time your powers will wake up and I am sure you will be a welcome addition to our team".

Damien bowed in respect and was allowed to leave the room.

He took this opportunity to move about the mobile fortress known as Friar. Eventually he went down the escalator and landed in the main room. Here he noticed that the area was divided into two places. One was with a terminal and the operator to whom he'd be reporting to from tomorrow onwards and the lower half which had a vending machine, a large television and some furniture to rest on.

There was also an elevator which he no doubt knew would lead him to Claudius' room.

He decided to introduce himself to the operator seeing as it was custom and he didn't want to rub anyone the wrong way. The operator was a young lady, probably around his age with short blond hair and light green eyes. She wore on the typical operator uniform with a sleeveless dress, a small red ribbon and a corset styled vest. She also had on a pair of gloves, socks that went up to her knees and red shoes.

"Greeting m..ma'am", said Damien hesitantly "My name is Damien Andronight and I just joined here. I hope we'll get along well in the future".

The girl chuckled a little before her reply came "I take it Julius hasn't told you about formalities here has he?"

"He has ma'am but…"

"You only need to stand on ceremony with us when meeting higher ups like a certain director. When it's only the staff from Friar, feel free to talk to us normally", she said "By the way, my name is Fran Francoise Francesca de Bourgogne".

"But everyone here calls me Fran", she added in an effort to calm down the troubled newbie when she gave him her name.

The two shook hands and Damien went to his room. A shaky entrance but so far he had not done anything that others would see as disrespectful and he hoped to keep that going. Now that his first free day was over, tomorrow he'd have to select his god arc and start fighting.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Day one

After getting acquainted with the rest of the staff, Damien met with Romeo and finished his day. The next day, he selected a longsword from the terminal as a weapon for his god arc. He had everything he needed and met with Julius and another girl who was also a new addition to the team.

"Damien, I want you to meet Nana Kazuki", said Julius gesturing to the girl who smiled and gave him a playful salute. Nana was a teenage girl with fair skin and slightly blue black hair. Her hair has three yellow cross barretes to hold it together and two barretes were used to create a pair of 'cat ears' which Damien noticed first.

The girl wears a very short type top. She also had a short, pink hoodie but the hood itself was coloured black. She also wore on a pair of pink gloves with the left side having a cuff and black arm wraps. Her choice of pants were a black with a white belt that had a golden buckle and finally she wore on black and pink riding boots with the left leg that sported a belt strap.

"Um…", said James unknowingly pointing to her ears.

"Ah these", she said tapping her 'cat ears' "Wanna touch 'em?"

James tapped the tops of her hair, to verify whether or not it was real. He was so focused on this act, that it was only through Julius' throat clearing did he snap back to himself.

"This will be your first trip in the field", he said looking at them "Remember that how good or bad you did in the training room is secondary, what matters is how you perform here each and every day".

"Julius", shouted Damien as he and Nana drew their weapons to face the ogretail that pounced up and was about to attack their leader.

Julius glared at the aragami, swinging his blade with the swiftness of a veteran like himself. When he was done, a line formed across the aragami's body as it's body separated in two and it fell to the ground.

"Remember that we are the sword of humanity", he said clenching his fist and speaking in a determined voice "Cast your fears and doubts aside, show the enemy that it is humans that stand at the top and not the aragami".

The two of them shouted in agreement then dropped down into the mission area. Today, they were hunting dreadpikes (not sure if that's the right name). Green bugs with a single long horn in front. The moved about with two large legs at the back, other than that there was nothing else of note with them.

Nana and Damien nodded to each other and both took off in different directions, slaying one after the other with little to no trouble at all. When they were finished they both triumphantly made their way back to their leader.

"You ignored the rules of engagement, you charged in without a single plan and you didn't even take a moment to learn about your surroundings", shouted Julius as he banged his hands on the table to Nana and Damien who sat on the opposite side in a prostrate position.

"We're sorry", they said with their heads lowered.

"I understand you're eager to prove yourselves and you want to do your part", he continued while trying to calm himself down "But from now on I expect you to adhere to a certain set of rules and guidelines before going on any mission".

"Yes sir", they said together once more and Julius walked away.

"How bad do you think we did?" asked Nana quietly to Damien "He looked pretty red".

"I don't want to know", said Damien sitting on one of the chairs "But he is right though, we shouldn't have acted the way we did".

"Here", she said handing the boy an oden sandwich which confused the boy a good deal "Whenever I get confused, worried or wonder about what to do, I eat an oden sandwich".

"Huh?" asked Damien tilting his head to the side, noticing the giant sack behind her.

"You should try some as well", she said cherrily taking a bite of her sandwich and watched James who stared at the food then finally took a small bite.

"Wow this is good", he said in amazement".

"They're still pretty green if you ask me", said Julius to his superior "I don't think they're ready".

"Now, now Julius", said Rachel trying to calm him down "Remember how you were like on your first day as well. So vibrant and energetic, how proud I was to see you like that and how proud I am to see how much of a man you've become".

"They're simply wanting to do their part, don't mind them for looking a little overzealous. I believe though with the passage of time, they will grow to be outstanding god eaters."

"That boy, Damien", she added "Did you find out about him like I asked?"

"Other than being a bit smarter than others, I don't seem to notice anything else of note with him" replied Julius "He joined Fenrir as a child, his superiors report that he performed well in the written tests and did well during their field tests".

"Still", said the doctor with a knowing smile "I would like it if you forward me all the information you have. Perhaps a pair of fresh eyes might be able to glean some interesting bits of information".

With a bow, Julius left the room allowing Rachel to her thoughts.

"I'm totally sorry for what happened today", shouted Damien and bowing at a perfect 90 degree angle. Of course he said the words so quickly that it came out like a strange slur, causing Julius to give him a confused look.

Putting two and two together, he understood what was going on and slowly lifted Damien up.

"I shouldn't have blown a gasket like that either", he said rubbing the back of his head "It's just that…"

"Yes sir?"

"It's just that out there you could die at the drop of a hat", he replied "And don't call me sir".

Damien simply nodded "I'm not asking you to think a hundred steps before taking one, all I'm asking is that you show a little caution and restraint from here on out. IF you can promise me you'll do that then I won't come down so hard on you again".

"Yes… Julius", he said with a nod

After that was done, Damien found himself spending the rest of the day in the training room. After he was done, he took a deep breath then wiped the sweat off his body then headed to his room to clean up. Once he was done, he headed to the garden at the top and found that he was not alone.

Sitting underneath a tree in the middle of all the multi-coloured flowers was a girl with pale-white skin and silver coloured eyes. Her choice of clothing was rather unique in that she wore a gothic Lolita dress with a corset, black boots and a pair of hair pins on her hair in twintails.

"Ah I'm sorry", she said noticing his presence "Am I taking your spot?"

"Huh no, no", said Damien shaking his head "I just came here to relax a little."

"Yes this is a good place to clear your mind", she said as he came towards her and sat on the flower bed.

Damien could not help but steal glances at the girl who quietly read from a book yet maintained an air of beauty and elegance. Looking like she had read enough, the girl closed her book then got up from her seat.

"It was nice meeting you", she said with a bow then left quietly after that.

Damien quietly watched her head to the elevator, go inside and head down. Now alone, Damien took a moment to playback the meeting in his mind all over again, stopping at that point when he first saw her.

"Wow she's beautiful", he said to himself

It was a whole two minutes afterwards did he realize that he was alone. Once he realized that, he immediately headed back down.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Resolve

The upcoming mission would be the first time they'd go into the field without Julius. While this made sense as he was busy in a meeting with one of Blood's benefactors (a portly general that Damien wanted to punch in the face the second he saw him) what did not make sense was the designation of power in his stead.

As it turned out, the really good looking girl that he saw not too long ago was the vice captain of the blood unit Ciel Alencon. From their subsequent meetings, he gauged that the girl was a very by the books person which matched Julius' style. She was also well versed in combat procedures and possessed a strong knowledge on aragami hunting techniques.

So it made no sense in his mind to be assigned the role of leader in the mission against an aragami known as a Kongou but was now more commonly called as a monkey due to the resemblance. When he asked about why it had that nickname to Nana, she casually replied "It's a trend that started out in Fenrir's far east branch division".

"Whoa", said Damien in surprise "The far east branch. I heard that place is full of legends".

"Meh not sure myself", said Nana wiping the dust off her hammer which had not seen much action since their first mission together.

Damien remembered his training days and the stories he heard about the far east. It was the front line of the aragami invasion so only the best of the best were assigned there. He'd often day dream about meeting his heroes and how he'd react when he got to see the Cradle Unit in person.

Shaking his head a little, Damien met up with Ciel and Romeo and along with Nana and himself, they headed out to the mission area to meet the monkey.

"Alright we're finishing this mission off quick", said Damien on their way to the location "That said I want everyone to go on the offensive from the very start. Ciel, I heard you scored in the ninetieth percentile on the shooting mission so I want you to alternate roles between close and long range attack."

"The aragami we're facing is pretty standard but that doesn't mean we can take things easy", he continued "Focus on the mission and we all get to go home safely".

They met the monkey in due time and the team started with Ciel firing the first shot. The monkey tried to beat its chest a little but Romeo's attack stopped that.

"Romeo circle round and aim for the cannons", called Damien and the teenager nodded. He dashed to the side then struck the cannon and the aragami staggered back. Damien came in immediately and landed a few cuts on its underside.

The aragami tensed about to attack with a right fist but it's arm was nearly blown back by Nana. The otherwise petite and dainty looking girl, displayed incredible strength when she hit her hammer against the aragami's fist and sent it reeling back.

'Whoa', thought Damien but now was not the time. Ciel fired a bullet that caused paralysis which was what he needed. Damien ran forward and shoved his sword into the aragmi's face, breaking the bonds there and weakening it greatly.

The aragami could see that it was terribly outmatched in this situation so it raised its fists up and fell to the ground creating a shockwave. This momentary lapse caused everyone around it to lose their footing which the aragami immediately capitalized on by making a break for it.

"Oh not a damn chance", hissed Damien standing up and pursuing it. He looked ahead of the aragami and figured out what it was aiming to do.

"Ciel, Romeo; the building in front of us, aim for the third floor", he called out. The two he spoke to exchanged questioning looks but nodded in agreement. They both fired just as the aragami leapt up at exactly the right time to take the shot.

While that happened, Damien ran to the building then ran up it before kicking against the wall so that he positioned himself directly over the falling aragami.

"From me to you", he said with a smirk then fired a barrage of bullets into the aragami's chest before switching to his sword and ramming it through the aragami's head, ending it once and for all.

"Holy cow that was amazing", cried out Romeo.

"Yes", added Ciel "I am particularly interested in how you were able to predict the aragami's movements and counter it".

"Ah well that was because I did a little research", said the boy walking away from his fallen prey with a smile on his face "Now a days aragami are known to run away if the situation gets tough so that they can recover their injuries and come back for round two".

"But that aside", he said with a desire to address something of importance "Damn Nana, that was totally awesome how you hit the monkey with your hammer".

"How were you able to push it back?"

"It's all thanks to me super awesome oden sandwiches", said Nana cheerily "I told you they're amazing".

"At any rate", added Ciel "We should get going soon, it's going to start raining".

She pointed to the skies behind them and the team turned around to see the red clouds forming in the sky. Not wanting to risk it, Damien gestured for the others to find a shelter while they waited for the helicopter to return.

As he saw the ominous clouds forming in the sky, he thought back to the first time he heard the announcement while he was training.

'Red rain', a somewhat obvious name given to the red clouds that would pour crimson coloured water upon the ground, a weather phenomenon that only formed in the past 3 years and had unfortunately led to the death of at least ten thousand lives.

The rain apparently was filled with oracle cells that induced a radical and terrible mutation should it come into contact with human skin. It would cause the humans body to mutate overtime turning them into aragami. A terrible disease made worse by the fact that there was no cure or treatment available despite the efforts of the best doctors in the world.

And of course the caveat for such a terrible change to take place was simple. One drop, all it took was a single drop of red rain to come into contact with human skin and it was over. Thanks to that, whenever anyone saw red coloured clouds forming in the skies, a warning is immediately issued in small settlements to have all inhabitants head inside their houses and stay there until the rain had completely subsided.

Thankfully, the team got inside well before the rain started to fall. Once safely inside, Damien made it a point to give his report of the mission to Julius. Luckily for him, that fat general was not around but he was instead speaking to a red haired curvaceous woman. She noticed his arrival and said her goodbye to Julius, allowing Damien to give his report.

"Excellent work Damien", said Julius with a smile "Guess this means I can rely on you more when I have other missions or work to take care of".

"Wait what?" asked Damien looking confused "You want me to do…. More?"

"Yes, you have shown good leadership skills and have shown a marked change in how you carry yourself in the field", he explained.

"But what about Ciel? She is way ahead of me in terms of experience".

"Yes but she's stated many times that she's fine in the role as vice captain. You can co-ordinate with her when it comes to upcoming missions however I'll be relying on you to lead the missions when I'm not available".

"Yes", said Damien confidently with a salute "I shall do my best".

"Good because we have a new recruit coming in and a second god eater on loan to us from the far east", said Julius sitting down and pouring two cups of tea. He held on and offered the second one to Damien.

"The far east?" repeated Damien trying to hide his excitement

"He'll be coming here and seeing how we run operations and will go with blood on a few missions as well", he explained "The new recruit is another story".

"He's been known to be a handful but is very skilled with a god arc and according to a recent check-up he also possesses the blood ability like we do".

The two of them continued talking about the new recruits. Throughout the conversation, Damien could tell that Julius had a lot on his plate. Handling the blood unit as well as everything else that entailed with being a leader must have taken quite a toll on him which was why by the time they finished, Damien understood that he shouldn't shirk from his duties.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Awakening

Though not as often as before, he still remembered that night

It was through a great deal of therapy and mental training to keep himself from remembering that terrible night each time he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Despite making great strides in an effort to get a good sleep, he was still plagued by that incident.

The fires of destruction that stood out like a wall, with heat practically stealing the moisture from his body; making it impossible to breathe. He looked on like a spectator to the most terrible event that occurred before him feeling completely helpless and useless.

The reason being was because even now he was deathly afraid. Afraid of easily the lives of three hundred people were taken. He was afraid of the people he once knew were now lying in twisted positions before him, their expressions were that of shock. And most of all, he remembered the cause of the event.

He looked ahead and saw the singular cause for this destruction, a long figure stood closer to the flames than anyone else but they were not hurt by the flames. It felt as though the person before him was someone born from the flames itself.

As if noticing his presence, the ominous force turned its head towards him, eyes full of insanity and mouth wide open in a smile.

"They got their wish", it said with malice and evil in every word. It sent chills down his spine even to this day.

With a loud cry, Damien shot up like a bullet panting hard. He looked around him and remembered that he was not in that hell anymore. Slowing down his breathing to a steady pace, he rubbed the sweat from his forehead and saw the time.

It was still far too early for anyone else to be up but he was in no mood to go back to sleep and visit the demon that waited in his memories.

Seeing as he had no other option left, he got up and out of his room, headed to the training room and loaded up a few missions. Damien tightened his grip on his sword and charged ahead.

After spending far too long in the training simulator, Damien saw more and more of the staff waking up to start their day. He had breakfast with Romeo, Nana and Ciel; it did not surprise him that Julius had eaten early and was taking care of some other work this early in the morning.

"Man that guy," said Damien chomping down on a piece of toast "Does he ever take a break?"

"Not really", replied Romeo eating his eggs "Long as I've known him, Julius is the type of person that fires one hundred percent on all cylinders".

"It is true", added Ciel "Ever since his powers awoke back in Magnolia Academy, Julius has been working harder than anyone else in Friar".

"Wait isn't today the day we're going to meet the two new faces?" asked Nana excitedly "Oh I can't wait to meet the fresh meat".

"Hey now it isn't like they're weaklings or newbies like you and I Nana", interjected Damien "One of them has been working in the Glasgow branch for years and the other…"

"The other ones from the far east", he said smiling like a kid

"Wait a second", said Romeo "Don't tell me you believe those stories that come from the far east? The Nova and the guy that changed back to human? No way is any of that possible".

"I concur", added Ciel which felt like a blow to Damien's ego "Especially with the infection, once you lose an armlet there is no cure for the God eater"

"So what do you think happened?" asked Nana "At least with that incident".

"I think that it was a mishandling of information somewhere up the ranks", said Ciel "One of them must have misread the information which only snowballed from that point on. And not wanting to lose their new status, the far east simply went along with the story".

"Awww that sounds too boring", said Damien slumping in his chair "The far east branch sounds like a really cool place… aragami attacks aside. I do wish I could go there at least once".

"Well now we should get ready for the two new recruits", said Nana humming as she hopped off the chair "I wonder if they like oden sandwiches as well. Oh I can't wait to see."

The rest of the team ate their breakfast quickly then went down to the main room where the two new god eaters stood. They introduced themselves as Gilbert McLane and Emil Von Strasbourg. Gilbert was the tallest and possibly the oldest god eater in the group. The guy had dark brown shoulder length hair with a purple fur lined hat, blue eyes and a scar on his face that he tried to hide. He wore on dark pants and a purple jacket with a brown and silver belt along with a chain on his left side. Gilbert introduced himself but stated that he had some other work to do and left promptly after that.

Emil in contrast seemed far more talkative. On a quick examination, Emil was around the same age as the others. He had flowing blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a white shirt with frills at the cuffs and on the chest. On top of that he wore a maroon coloured vest with gold coloured thread along the edges. He wore grey pants with black and gold markings on the side and military boots.

"And so in conclusion," he said not mindful that most of his speech fell on deaf ears. "I believe that the opportunity to fight alongside my other comrades in arms is a gift from fate itself and one that I do not intend to ignore."

"So my friends", he said clenching his fist as though it might add some intensity to his speech "I look forward to this and many other missions together. Let us as knights of truth and justice go forth and cut down all the enemies that stand in our way".

He posed at that last word, waiting for the others to react. It was only Nana that did in the form of a weak clap as if to spare his feelings. This action however did not dampen his spirits as Emil charged into the prep room, took his god arc and before they knew it, the team was out in the field chasing down a bird (chi-you). This time instead of a four man team, it was a six man team with Damien at the lead.

They spotted the bird without fail and started the attack. Emil and Gil were kept in the rear for now. They had the role of preventing the aragami from escape as it was known to take to the skies when in a bind.

The aragami taunted them forward with the hands on its wings and the team happily obliged. Ciel lay down covering fire, allowing Damien, Romeo and Nana to draw in closer. Damien and Romeo attacked first with a pair of blade swings but the aragami blocked them with its hands. This allowed Nana to attack it right on the chest but the aragami instead flung the two god eaters at its attacker, sending all three of them back.

Not missing a beat Ciel quickly advanced forward and attacked with a barrage of strikes that hit it in the legs and knees but did little damage to the enemy. It quickly hovered in the air then swooped down like an eagle about to attack. All four of them immediately went prove to avoid the main attack.

"Not today evil aragami", stated Emil in a matter of fact way as he ran forward then leapt into the air and came down on the aragami, ramming his hammer into the aragami's back. The aragami hit the ground with such force that it created a large crater upon its impacting the ground. This allowed the other god eaters to immediately surround it, thus blocking any possible escape route.

Emil and Nana attacked first by destroying the bonds in the aragami's legs thus making it stagger back and fall to one knee. Upon seeing this, Gil and Romeo rushed forward, jumped off its lowered knee and broke the bonds in its wings. Finally Damien and Ciel ran from the sides and with a swing from both of their blades, the aragami's head was cleaved off its body and fell to the ground while its body went to both knees and stayed that way.

With that taken care of, the team quietly sat on the ground waiting for their chopper to arrive.

"What's taking the pilot so long?" asked Gil sounding mildly irritated "At this rate we're going to run into more aragami".

"Well it's not like that's a big deal", said Romeo with a shrug "With our incredible, super awesome tag steam style there's no aragami that stands a chance".

"Listen you", said Gil pointing a finger "Don't get cocky after that one win. We had the numbers in our advantage. Next time they might outnumber us".

"Whatever man", said the boy with a huff "Geez who rained on that guys parade?"

"By the way", said Nana halfway through her sandwich "Has anyone seen Emil?"

"Don't tell me he didn't listen", said James with a frustrated voice "I told that guy to stay within the line of sight".

"Alright everyone, spread out and search the area but if you must go in deeper then maintain radio contact", he declared just as they heard a rumbling noise from the distance.

Considering the timing of everything, the five that gathered all tightened their grips on the god arc and turned in the direction of the noise.

"I NEED ASSISTANCE", yelled Emil coming into view being chased by a completely new aragami. It had a mask of white armour around its face, white claws and three trails of energy sticking out of its back. There was also a pair of what looked like gauntlets on its front legs. Damien remembered an animal known as a dog and saw videos of how swiftly it moved. This was just like that as the aragami darted towards its target with a purpose.

"Aw damn it", hissed Gil "It's a scion".

"A what now?" asked James while the others switched to gun mode and fired continually at the newly dubbed scion.

"Not the time", shouted Gil shifting to spear mode and leaping over Emil to attack the aragami. It halted its movement so that Gil would fall a little away from the mark and allow it to send its attacker flying into the building behind it with a head butt. This served as an eternal reminder than though god arc's allowed humanity to face the aragami threat, it did little to overcome the incredible difference in strength between humans and aragami.

Ciel, Romeo and Nana all switched to weapon mode then charged forward. In response to this, the aragami leapt back a little then pounced forward. The gauntlets in its arm opened a little, showing energy was gathering. Too late did everyone realise what happened and the attacking trio were hit by a spray of fire that shot out of the aragami's paws and sent everyone hard into the ground.

"No", said Damien in shock seeing nearly all of his comrades unconscious. Emil stood beside him but that did little to allay the fears in his mind.

As the predator approached its prey, Damien was reminded of that night. The night where his hellish life finally reached its peak, the night where everything that mattered was ripped away from him, the night where he felt true despair.

And the night where he promised to never be that weak again.

Feeling a surge of adrenaline racing through his mind and all common sense and logic fading away instantly, Damien charged forward like a madman. At this point he did not care, if he lost his arm, they'd replace it. If he lost his legs, they'd replace it and if they lost his life, he would have no problems with that.

All that mattered is protecting them. It may have been brief but the few people that he met meant a lot to him and he would not let anyone or anything take it away. He held his sword up about to attack, ready to accept his fate.

And in that moment, a miracle was born.

Damien's sword was suddenly covered in red energy, crashing into the aragami's left eye and leaving a great big scar in the process. The aragami roared furiously in response and held one paw up to launch a fireball at the target. Damien simply swung his sword out, creating a wave of energy that broke through the enemy projectile and hit the aragami. It fell back a good distance but quickly got to its feet and stared threateningly at Damien.

"Come on", he shouted then ran forward once again swinging his sword and in response, sending out a barrage of energy waves at the aragami. Realizing that it had no other course of action, the giant dog quickly dodged them then ran way.

"Hey Get back here you coward", he said now shifting to gun mode and firing a large energy beam in the direction of the aragami. The force of the shot however was too much for him and that caused Damien's trajectory to alter ever so slightly that the aragami was able to escape.

Damien wanted to pursue it but when he took his first step, he felt his adrenaline instantly fade and all that remained was an incredible tiredness that overcame him faster than he could have imagined. His legs became weak and his eyes grew weary and heavy as each second went on.

All that he remembered was the sound of everyone shouting his name before closing his eyes.

AN: I just want to put it out there that while I'm clear on the chain of events in GE2, certain small stories I'm still not sure with so it may differ from the original storyline in the GE2 game so please don't get mad if it doesn't fall in line with the main game's story.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

The Far East Branch

"I only wish I could have seen it myself", mused Julius after hearing the story from the others in the team.

"He looked amazing to be honest", added Nana "And drove that stupid aragami back all on his own."

"By the way", said Ciel with a troubled expression "He fell unconscious after his awakening, is he okay?"

"Not to worry", said Julius with his hand raised to try and calm her down "The sudden surge of power that he received drained him of his stamina, that's all that happened. IT's no different than a runner suddenly going at top speed at the last stretch of the race only to collapse after crossing the finish line first. His awakening put a strain on his body but the more he uses his blood power, the lesser the strain will be".

"By the way", said Rome with his hand raised playfully "What does it mean for him to awaken his blood powers?"

"Well for one thing it would mean a significant boost in his attack, defence and stamina", began the leader "Another thing is that his power is like a trigger mechanism, in that the longer time the rest of you spend around him, the greater the chances for your blood power to awaken too."

"Truly the title of white knight does suit him", interjected Emil while swishing his hair "A warrior who only seeks to bring out the latent power of his friends while striving to achieve greater heights in his own personal growth…"

"Such a spectacle has left me in total awe. Ah to witness the birth of a hero, I am truly blessed but at the same time I will not falter for today I shall double my efforts and rise up to the level that my new rival has obtained".

"I swear", said an unfamiliar voice, hitting Emil on the head from behind and knocking him out in the process. The blood unit now saw a young girl appear with green hair and blue eyes. She wore a white beret and a school uniform with long red socks and black shoes.

"Leave him to be on his own and he'll start spouting all kinds of nonsense", she said setting the now unconscious Emil on the sofa. Now she turned back to the others and said "You know with guys like him you can fell free to tell him to stop. He won't really take it to heart anyway because he's like that".

"Uh…" said Romeo who was thinking what everyone else probably was.

"Nice to see you Erina", said Julius clearing his throat in an effort to bring some order to the situation "I thought we were supposed to meet Fujiki."

"He was supposed to come here but he's helping out cradle with a few missions", said Erina with a shrug "And if that isn't enough, the higher ups have asked that Friar head to the far east branch for a while. With the added increase in scion activity, we need the Blood unit's help in quelling the tide".

"I see," said Julius looking downward "And what has Dr. Claudius said about this?"

"Not sure, I only just got here myself", she replied "My guess is she'll be getting the message soon".

Just as predicted, Julius was called into Rachel's room where she said just about the same things that Erina did. Friar now shifted course and was heading to the front line of the aragami war, the far east branch.

Once they reached the branch, Erina took the opportunity to give the team a tour of the facility. She noted that one of the biggest changes was the refurnishing of the cafeteria and that it had a pool table as well as a jukebox to listen to music.

When they reached the main area, Erina introduced them to Hibari who unfortunately did not have much time to talk as she darted to the meeting room with a stack of tablets in her hands.

"Sorry she works pretty hard", said Erina with a weak smile then continued with the tour. Soon enough they met the director of the branch Paylor Sakaki. He didn't say much… or more like he spoke too fast for the rest of them to understand what he was saying but the last bit everyone heard clearly.

"Seeing as we'll be working together, I would like to see your skills in the field", said the doctor "Don't worry it's a relatively simple mission but one that I hope you'll take seriously all the same".

They nodded and as they headed to the elevator the teams were decided. Damien would take the lead with Ciel, Nana and Gil. Romeo decided he wanted to know more about the branch while Julius had once again more work to do.

When they arrived at the mission room they heard an evil laugh coming from all sides.

"So this is the fabled blood unit", said the garbled voice "Hmm you look normal but I don't see what the big deal is".

"Kota", chastised Hibari when entering the room as well "Don't give them a hard time alright".

As she said that a teenager popped from behind one of the chairs with an apologetic look.

"Sorry", he said slowly coming towards them "I had an idea and thought about trying it out".

"That aside", said Kota smiling and extending his right hand out "I'm Kota Fujiki, leader of the first unit or better known as the retaliation unit".

Kota looked about the same age as the others. He wore on a normal bright yellow shirt with a white sleeveless jacket on top. He also had on a pair of very baggy pants and sported a yellow bandana to keep his long hair out of the way.

"The retaliation unit", said Damien going wide eyed "OH MY GODDDD!"

"Whoa", said Kota taken aback but Damien couldn't care. He pounced on Kota, furiously shaking his hand like he met a hero.

"I've heard sooo much about you guys. Everyone that's been in the first unit are practically legends in the Fenrir training facilities".

"Aw really?" asked Kota sounding a little less scared than before.

"Yeah, there's 'barrage' Fujiki, '1 shot 1 kill Tachibana, 'survivor' Amamiya, 'quickstep' Alisa, 'bond breaker' Soma", said Damien counting off names, ignoring the troubled expressions his team was giving him.

"Wow dude", said Romeo casually "You're a real fan of them huh?"

"This…" said Nana with a nervous chuckle "Is a different side to you"

"And then there's vanguard", added Damien but did not notice the sudden wince that Kota gave on hearing that name.

"Speaking of stories", said Nana stepping forward "We've all heard about the stuff here so quick question; is that story about the vanguard true?"

"Of course not Nana", said Romeo "No human could have ever faced an army on his own and lived to tell".

"True", said Gilbert with a nod "It makes no sense".

"It is true", said Kota surprising all of them "And if you ask anyone in the Ghettos or anyone else from the earlier generation of the retaliation, defence and recon unit, they'll all say the same thing".

"The lone God eater who stood as the single guardian between the vicious aragami and the innocent people of the world", said Emil suddenly speaking up and talking like he was recalling a tale in some RPG or fantasy novel.

"The vanguard faced them all one after another, never surrendering and never buckling, truly a modern day knight and quite the standard bearer".

"So where is he or she?" asked Damien excitedly "I mean we never really heard their name so I don't even know if it's a guy or girl but I sure as hell want to meet that person".

"Uh well…" said Kota trying to skirt around an obviously uncomfortable subject "How about we talk about it after you guys have finished your mission".

"Right", said Damien suddenly remembering what he should do and quickly gestured for his team to follow him up the elevator where they headed to the helicopter waiting for them then went to the mission area.

AN: what's this? The far east branch but no sign of the first protagonist? And why does everyone only call him by the title and not his actual name? ohh soo many questions and sooo many answers.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Cradle unit

The area they headed towards was the abandoned city and the targets in question were a monkey and a crocodile (I'm sorry but that name sounds like a real chore to type so I'm going with the nickname instead). They found the two aragamis within close proximity and did not take long to go on the attack.

Damien focused on trying to invoke his blood powers once again but still had trouble making it happen. Nana ran forward then hit the crocodile on the side of the head, sending it staggering back while Gil fired a barrage of bullets at the monkey.

Seeing as now was not the right time to sit around doing nothing, Damien also ran towards the aragamis. If he was able to invoke his blood powers then that's good. If not he'd have to head to one of the training rooms and work on it. Either way, he wasn't going to stand around like a statue.

The four of them were pushed back when the monkey hit them with a concentrated gust of wind but they quickly recovered.

"Damien", called out Ciel "Any luck with that blood power?"

Damien simply shook his head in defeat to the question.

Ciel simply nodded then switched to gun mode and fired. She was joined by Gil who also let loose a barrage upon both the aragami while Nana and Damien ran forward to close the distance.

Rather than all four of them fight one aragami, two of them would take on one target. Not the best move but they had no other choice right now. The monkey was about to attack with a right but Damien landed a couple of shots on its stomach, causing it to fall down. Luckily he knew what would happen so he quickly leapt into the air to avoid the shockwave that it created on impact.

He landed on the ground to see the ground around him turning white. Damien quickly ran away from this to avoid the energy column that would have done some serious damage had he been there.

Damien shifted his attention to Nana and Gil who were knocked into the air by the crocodile's slide. As much as he wanted to help them, he turned back to the monkey. The sooner he killed this monkey, the better. He turned around and blocked the aragami's strikes with his sword. Ciel came up beside him and she stabbed him multiple times in the right knee.

The aragami swung out with its left arm to try and push its attacker back but Damien stabbed it in between the fingers, making it roar in pain. With a swift but decisive swing of his blade, Damien cleaved the aragami's right hand off in a single strike. He held his sword out and Ciel pounced onto the flat side of the weapon before being jettisoned into the air where the girl switched to gun mode and fired a barrage of bullets at the target.

This forced the aragami to hold both its hands up to block the bullets but that left it wide open to a counter. Seeing the opportunity and wanting to end this fight as fast as he could, Damien charged forward ultimately running his sword through the aragami's chest.

Normally in cases like this, it would result in death but the aragami was only momentarily slowed by the pain. It retaliated with a strike from its cannon, knocking Damien back while also causing him to lose his grip on the god arc. Ciel positioned herself over the aragami's staggering body then came down on it with her short sword.

The aragami was focused on Damien that it failed to see the other attacker and paid dearly for it. Ciel's sword went through the aragami's head and emerged from its jaw. The monkey floundered about for a little, its last moments alive it saw Damien come up and yank his sword out along the side, creating a huge wound as the monkey fell lifelessly to the ground.

The two of them exchanged a quick smile then turned to face the crocodile. They noticed the damaged turbine on its back and a few broken teeth, indicating that Nana and Gil were able to hold their own. The two of them made their presence felt by shooting at the target as much as possible causing it to open its enormously large mouth and attack them by sliding towards the duo. Ciel and Damien easily moved aside to avoid it but what neither of them anticipated was that when it was done, it immediately emitted an electric field. The two hunters were overcome with a terrible sense of pain, causing them to fall to the ground.

The aragami menacingly stood over Damien, about to attack with a single chomp that would end his life in a flash. Luckily for him though, that would not happen as Nana arrived in time to strike the aragami with a swing from her hammer. She stood her ground and ignited the boosters on the base of the hammer, allowing her to greatly increase the speed of her attacks.

The aragami's body rose to the air allowing Gil to land multiple strikes on its much weaker underside.

Damien slowly rose back to his feet, seeing the two of them wounding the aragami even further.

"Come on", he muttered to himself, thinking back to that moment when his powers awakened. He remembered that desire to become stronger, the need to protect his friends and the promise he made.

As if in response to these desires, his sword was suddenly enveloped in a red energy, causing a smile to appear on his face.

"Guys", he shouted to Gil and Nana who quickly realized what was going on and immediately moved aside. The aragami took a few steps back then charged forward with its mouth wide open.

With his sword still glowing and his expression remaining unchanged, Damien stood his ground with his sword pointed out at the aragami.

The others watched the aragami draw closer and closer till at the last second, Damien moved aside at the last possible second but swung his sword out. In doing so the aragami that charged at him was cut clean in half from the mouth all the way to its tail.

Damien silently stood his ground while the aragami stopped behind him. It could not turn around or mount any form of retaliation as a thin line formed across its body, causing the top half to fall off.

"Whoa", said Nana witnessing the scene "That was… wicked".

The glow from his sword vanished and Damien headed towards Ciel then picked her up.

"Is she okay?" asked Gil sounding concerned.

"Probably unconscious from the shock but nothing too severe", he said after checking her pulse. Gil understood what needed to be done and called for a helicopter.

"Looks like I got here too late", said a girls voice and the trio turned in the direction of the voice. They saw a girl dressed in a white jacket with only the top two buttons in place. She wore on a red beret to match her red checkered skirt, long socks with red at the end and black shoes.

"Pretty graphic in my opinion but if it gets the job done at least then who really cares", said the girl looking at the fallen aragami before shrugging "You all did well in this mission, I'll make sure to reflect that on my report".

"Um…" said Damien saying what everyone was thinking "Who are you?"

"Oh", she said in amazement and shook her head "Sorry about that, completely forgot about formalities".

She extended her hand out to Damien and said "Alisa Amiella, from the Cradle unit. Nice to meet you"

eaking up and talking like he was recalling a tale in some RPG or fantasy novel.

"The vanguard faced them all one after another, never surrendering and never buckling, truly a modern day knight and quite the standard bearer".

"So where is he or she?" asked Damien excitedly "I mean we never really heard their name so I don't even know if it's a guy or girl but I sure as hell want to meet that person".

"Uh well…" said Kota trying to skirt around an obviously uncomfortable subject "How about we talk about it after you guys have finished your mission".

"Right", said Damien suddenly remembering what he should do and quickly gestured for his team to follow him up the elevator where they headed to the helicopter waiting for them then went to the mission area.

AN: what's this? The far east branch but no sign of the first protagonist? And why does everyone only call him by the title and not his actual name? ohh soo many questions and sooo many answers.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Meeting the legends

Lindow Amamiya, Soma Shicksal, Alisa Amiella and Kota Fujiki; three of them were originally members of the vaunted first unit with one of them becoming the leader. The other three went on to form a team that had the sole purpose of travelling the east, stopping powerful aragami while also helping small settlements and villages building their defences in order to protect them from any aragami attack.

Officially they were called the Cradle unit, overseen by Tsubaki Amamiya. Since their inception three years ago, the team had built quite a reputation for themselves thanks to the many missions they had undertaken. Cradle was given necessary transport which allowed them to travel the whole length of the east and would stop by from time to time at the far east branch to inform Dr. Sakaki of all their missions.

This was why Lindow was sitting at the table opposite to Paylor. This however did not explain why Damien suddenly burst into the room and squealed in delight upon seeing the legendary 'survivor'.

"I can't believe I'm actually meeting the legendary Lindow Amamiya", shouted Damien like a child in a confectionery place. "You're one of the coolest god eaters I've ever heard about".

Lindow could only respond with a hesitant laugh while Damien vigorously shook his hand. He then turned to Sakaki who revelled in how uncomfortable this was making him before finally responding.

"That eager youth is Damien Andronight, one of the newest members to the Blood unit which will be working with us on a few missions", he explained.

"Good to meet you", said the veteran finally responding "Have you met the rest of the team?"

"Yeah, we met Alisa out in the field", he replied starting to calm down a little "This is such a great day".

"You know I always wanted to join the cradle unit", he added with a smile

"Really? Why's that?"

"Cradle's aided in the establishment and deployment of more than one hundred and seventeen settlements since its inception three years ago. I can only guess given the spread of population but that would mean you helped at least ten thousand people which must have felt really good."

"In short, being able to help as many people as possible sounded like a great thing which was why I wanted to join your unit after I graduated. That and working with legends like yourself also helped seal the deal in my mind".

"Nice to hear that you hold us in such high esteem", said Lindow with a nervous chuckle. "Hey listen, the three of us are going on a mission later in the week, want to tag along?"

"Do I ever?" he replied then paused "Ah but I'll have to check with Fran and Hibari first. But I swear if I don't have any pending work to do, you can bet I'll be joining you guys".

"Even though you've already said it before", said Lindow offering his other hand "It's a pleasure to meet you Damien, hope I get to see you in action soon".

"WHOAAA", cried Damien, his voice reaching another decibel upon seeing Lindow's gold coloured gauntlet. "So the stories are true huh?"

"Yep", he said pointing a thumb at himself "Only god eater in history to have ever reverted back to a human".

"Must have been one hell of an ordeal, ah but um… the stories say that vanguard played an instrumental role as well right?"

"Yeah", said the veteran with a distant look in his eyes "Well if you don't mind Damien, I've got to do a little work or else Soma will blow his top".

Sakaki watched Lindow leave the room then said "A small bit of advice Damien. It's best not to bring up stories about vanguard especially around everyone in the first unit".

Not fully understanding why but also understanding that he should not press the issue, Damien simply nodded to the doctor's suggestion and left the room.

Afterwards Damien met with Soma. The older god eater didn't seem all that talkative and Damien also didn't want to keep him from his work. They simply greeted each other like two colleagues in the workplace before Soma excused himself to do some work.

He found that the rest of the team were busy looking at the new rooms the far east prepared for the blood unit. Feeling a little listless, he sat in the lounge area to let his mind wander. Try as he might though, he could not stop thinking about Lindow and how he reacted at the mention of the vanguard.

"There you are", said Ciel snapping him out of his thoughts "I imagine you haven't seen your room yet?"

"Sadly no, been thinking about other things", he replied scratching his cheek a little.

"Oh? What about?" she asked sounding generally curious

Damien wanted to tell her the truth but instead said something else. "I've been wondering on whether or not I'll be able to join the cradle unit on a mission".

"See they invited me to come with them on a mission around next week but I'm wondering if I'll have work to do".

"Damien may I ask you something and please feel free to tell me off if you think I'm intruding too much".

"What is it?"

"Why are you so enamoured by the Cradle unit? It can't just be because all the members are legendary god eaters?"

"Because they're the closest things we'll ever get to heroes", he replied honestly "I always looked up to the god eaters in general. To be able to put your lives on the line and fight for those who can't sounds pretty heroic to me. And everyone in cradle are a step above, not only do they protect way more people than any one Fenrir branch but they're also helping humanity get back on their feet".

"So you've wanted to become a hero ever since you were young?" she asked

"Yep", he said and turned to her "But joining blood is also a great opportunity for me to prove myself as well".

"It's alright James", she said giggling a little "There are no rules that state a member of blood cannot go on missions with other teams. In fact the more we work together with other branches, the better it would be for our units overall reputation".

"So if you want to go on a mission with Cradle then you should", she said suddenly holding his hands, a gesture that completely caught Damien off guard "And rest assured that everyone in the blood unit will also help you".

Day gave way to night and after having enjoying a lively conversation with the rest of his team, Damien decided it was time to turn in. When he passed by the mission area, he noticed Kota with a concerned look on his face as he scanned the many tablets resting on the table before him.

"Anything I can help you with?" he asked slowly coming down the stairs.

"Ah, well I promised Hibari that I'd try to help her out with some work but I think I'm not at all cut out for this".

"Then why did you offer your services?" he asked scratching his head.

"It was a habit that I picked up from a friend", he replied then went back to his tablet.

"You mean vanguard right?" asked Damien and the silence he received from the boy was answer enough.

"You know I've been racking my brain ever since I met you guys and for the life of me I can't seem to understand it", he began "By all accounts, this vanguard sounds like a real upstanding god eater and an all-round good soldier to boot. I'd figure that someone like that would be held in high esteem among everyone here but the second I mention their name, just about everyone does a 180 and changes the subject".

"It's not that we don't like him or anything", said Kota revealing a little to the mystery. The boy sighed and lowered his head a little then said "Yeah, you're right. He was one of the best god eaters we've ever seen. Smart, confident, resourceful, tenacious and pretty charismatic as well. He got along well with everyone around him and worked his hardest from day to night."

"He was a friend when we needed one, a should to hold us up when things got rough and a sympathetic ear whenever any of us wanted to let off some steam."

"So what happened? Did he die?"

"He could be dead but I don't know for sure", replied Kota "After we finished a really tough mission against this one really dangerous aragami, we all partied and celebrated the victory like normal. But when it was the next day, we found that he vanished."

"His clothes were gone, bags were packed, room was completely emptied out and there wasn't a single sign that he was even there in the first place. Lindow and Soma spent months chasing down leads or trying to find a whisper of his location but nothing happened in the end".

"So the reason why no one ever talks about him is because its still a pretty touchy subject", he added "And by the way, please don't tell Soma I told you about this. He'd probably chew my ear off".

"Sure, just one more question I wanted to ask", said Damien "Everyone here calls him by the nickname vanguard but what's his real name?"

"James, James Castor", he replied

It was a good thing that Kota went back to his work or else he would have noticed the colour drain from Damien's face and the incredible fear that showed in his eyes.

All of a sudden his world crumbled to bits and he was brought back to that terrible night.

Damien looked at the spectacle before him and was terrified. He struggled to open his voice and say something but the words failed him.

Before him however, the perpetrator stood so close to the tower of fires yet he was not burned nor showed any signs of damage, in fact he looked like he was in his element.

Slowly realizing that there was someone else there with him, the blood soaked child turned around, eyes glowing ice blue while his lips curled into the most insidious smile imaginable.

It was only now Damien had found enough strength in his body to ask a simple question "What have you done?"

A question that had multiple implications but none of them mattered to the one it was directed to.

James simply grinned at the boy behind him and with the look of insanity still ever present on his face he said "They got their wish".


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

AN: apologies for not posting sooner. Got a wicked case of the flu and was laid up in bed for two days straight.

Next level warfare

The revelation that hit him was one that refused to allow him a moment of peace. Despite having one of his dreams fulfilled as he was able to go on a mission with Lindow, Soma and Alisa; he still kept thinking about that monster and how cruel fate had been to him.

He imagined some cosmic deity must be having a good laugh at him right now. The monster from his past was being hailed as a hero by everyone in the far east branch. Damien contemplated on whether or not to tell everyone the truth but realized that none of them would ever believe it.

After all, there were so many times before where even he too had a tough time understanding the events of their childhood and the circumstances that led to their and only their survival while many others died.

However, time did not care at all about the troubles facing Damien as he and the rest of the blood unit had finished their time with the far east and had another big mission that needed to be done.

One of the many duties that fell on Julius' shoulders was the overseeing manufacturing of a new weapon created by Fenrir, known as the god arc soldier. To put it simply, it was a giant robot that could be either piloted or remotely controlled from a fair distance. The idea behind the robots is that anyone with enough training would be able to step into the cockpit and fight. Compared to the many requirements that one needed to have before becoming a god eater, there were many eyes fixed on the experiment, hoping that it would succeed.

"And so", said the Director clearing his throat "It is the job of the blood unit to oversee the deployment of the god arc soldiers. You must clear the area of any aragami and allow our pilots to begin the necessary tests. Once that is done we will send an evacuation helicopter to come pick you up. Any questions?"

Damien immediately raised his hand up and asked "Why are we testing them out in two very different locations?"

"To see how they react to different environments".

"But won't it be better to test one environment at a time? It'd allow the scientists to fully focus on gathering the information from one location instead of spreading them out and thereby allowing for mistakes to take place?"

"Now look here…."

"And what about the weather conditions, my fortune teller told me that they're expecting red rain for the next few days which happens to be around the same time that we're launching a mission"

"Now you listen here", barked the director slamming his hands on the table "Your job is not to ask questions and doubt the words from on high. Your job is to nod like the puppets that you are and be thankful that I'm allowing you such an honour".

He turned to Julius and said "You'd better keep that dog of your in check or I swear he will be removed. Don't forget soldier you are not something special or something great. All you are is replaceable."

When the team left the briefing room Damien mentioned quietly to Gil that he plans to punch that old man at least once.

"Really?" asked Gil with a scoff "If you ever plan to go through with it then call me in".

The two of them exchanged a brief chuckle before heading to the helicopter. It was only when they were in the air and halfway to the mission are did the message come in from Fran.

"Damien, Gil and Nana will be deployed to test site beta, Ciel will be sent to test site alpha."

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" asked Damien "Why are we only sending one god eater to the location? Have Romeo or Julius go there to provide back up".

"Unfortunately Julius is busy overseeing the whole plan", interjected the general on the communicator "And cadet Romeo will stay and provide back up for your team".

"It was Ciel's suggestion to tackle the second site alone", he added then cut the lines.

"Damn it", hissed Damien "When we get back I'm punching that fat moron in the face, damn what happens after that".

"You think he pressured Ciel into taking that place?" asked Nana

"It wouldn't surprise me", huffed Damien "Anyway, our mission objectives have changed. The second we hit the ground go all out. All we're facing is a wolf or something so let's wrap this up quickly and take care of this. Once that's done Gil and Nana will oversee the deployment while I head to the other location and provide Ciel back up".

When they neared the location, Nana and Damien peered out the sides to see the helicopter deploying the god arc soldier followed by them getting off the vehicle and scoping the area out.

Nana pointed ahead and saw the wolf pacing the end of the bridge from side to side. Not wanting to prolong what was going to happen, all three of them made a bee line towards their target. The aragami noticed their presence and kept pawing at the ground with its right paw. All of a sudden the gauntlet on its front paw lit up and it sent a fireball at them. Nana and Gil leapt to their sides but Damien cut through the projectile with his sword.

"This thing's the same as that damned scion", he barked to the others while his blade started to glow.

The two beside him nodded while Gil fired shot after shot Damien and Nana drew closer to the wolf. Damien attacked with his sword by striking one of the gauntlets. The aragami viciously growled at him but could not retaliate as Nana hit it in the face with her hammer, forcing it to back.

Meanwhile Damien spun around in a circle with his sword extended out, then suddenly stopped and sent out a large energy wave that hit the gauntlet he struck before and shattered it in the process. The aragami stared at its new wound for a moment before rushing towards its enemies. When it neared them however, it leapt high up with its remaining gauntlet beginning to shine.

"That tricks not going to work twice", snarled Damien as his teammates all went in separate directions so that none of them were hit by the projectile. When it hit the ground however, they swarmed it from all sides. Gil thrust his spear into the side of the aragami, piercing the flesh and emerging from the other side.

The aragami fell down in pain from the attack. Nana took this opportunity to run up its back and leap into the sky. As that happened, Damien held his sword up to block its attack then swung out to land a deep wound on the aragami's face.

Nana took advantage of the diversion by ramming her hammer into the back of the aragami's head, sending it hard into the ground just as Damien and Gil thrust their weapons forward and ran it through the aragami's head.

Damien ran his sword up the fallen foes head while Gil's spear remained inside. The two of them watched it a little longer to finally ensure that it was done for.

"Alright that's another one for us", said Nana cheerily "Go team".

"Sorry but I should get going now", stated Damien turning around and starting to run in the direction where Ciel was.

"Uh Damien, small problem", said Gil pointing to the skies.

He slowly looked up just as Fran spoke on the communicator "Blood unit, you need to get out of there right now. Experts report that you'll be facing a downpour of red rain in less than two minutes".

"No ignore that order right now", shouted the general, nearly causing everyone to go deaf "Blood unit you must see to the deployment of the god arc soldiers. That is your singular and only objective".

"Guys check it out", called out Nana pointing to an abandoned building "We can stay there for now".

"What about Ciel?" asked Gil to his communicator but received silence for a while.

"Negative", said the girl "I am not able to find any cover at the moment".

"We need to send an evac helicopter there right now", called out Julius "It is imperative that…"

"It's imperative that cadet Ciel perform the mission", barked the General once again "Ciel you will see to the deployment of the god arc soldier and will provide back up regardless of the situation. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir", said Ciel without any sign of hesitation "The rest of you please find somewhere safe to hide. Do not worry about me, I'll be fine".

"You heard that and let me iterate something else as well", stated the General with urgency in his voice "Those soldiers cost more than any one of you or your entire team combined. If you do anything, anything at all to hamper the testing then I will see to it that you are sentenced to jail for the rest of your life, is that clear?"

For the longest of time there was silence. None of the trio spoke up at all only prompting the General to shout more and confirm whether or not his orders were heard.

"That's going to be a problem General", said Nana casually "See acting Captain Andronight stole the god arc soldier and is headed for Ciel's location."

"We tried to stop him", she added while smiling to Gil "But he knocked Gil out and tied me up".

"Ughhhh", said her teammate to add to the story "What just happened?"

"Damn it", barked the General about to blow a vessel as he stormed off, leaving Julius and Fran alone. When they were sure he would not hear them, Fran pressed one of the buttons on screen and asked

"You still with us?"

"Man I would have given anything to see that piggies face just now", replied Damien from inside the cockpit.

Now flying high in the air, Damien used the on board radar and GPS to track the location of the second soldier, he found what he needed and flew towards the location. As he drew closer, he noticed a bird also spotted Ciel and was moving in for the attack.

"GO TO HELLLL", shouted Damien taking the massive sword out of the robots back and swinging it down, cleaving the bird in two.

"What?" asked Ciel looking visibly surprised from the spectacle.

"Heya", said Damien using the robot to open the cockpit of the other robot.

"But Damien", said Ciel "We had our orders".

"Screw orders", said Damien without a second of hesitation then extended his hand for her to climb on. Once she got inside the robot, he closed the hatch and waited for it to boot up.

"You know what's going to happen when you get back right?" she asked through the communicator.

"Don't care, let them put me in prison. The only thing I'm really sad over is that I never got the see the look on that old mans face."

"Hey", he said and the robot that he piloted turned to her "You think Fran or Julius took a picture?"

"Damien", said Julius who sounded like he was struggling to keep his patience in check "You think now's the time to ask about what's going on here?"

"Ah sorry, alright boss we're heading back to base, what about Nana and Gil?"

"We're safe inside and are five minutes from home", said Nana

"I swear Damien", said Gil.

Laughing out loud Damien took to the skies closely followed by Ciel.

It was no surprise that when he got back to Friar, one of the staff confiscated his god arc while two other soldiers held him by the arm and led him to the main room where Julius waited with an armed guard. Damien turned to Ciel who looked like she was about to throw herself under the bus but he nodded against that.

"Do you have anything to say?" asked Julius trying to sound professional

"Nope", replied Damien with a smile holding his hands up and waiting for the cuffs to be put on.

Damien was sent to prison for insubordination and risking damage to Fenrir property. That was the official statement but one look at everyone in Friar and it was understood that nobody was against the idea. Everyone agreed that what he had done was the right move to make and most of his days there would be at least one of the soldiers or staff or his teammates voicing their opinion to the teen.

"I can't believe you would do something that dangerous", said Ciel making him stand up and come to the small opening on his door "Damien do you know the trouble you're in right now?"

"I know and I don't care", said Damien "Far as I'm concerned it was the right thing to do".

"Why though?" she asked as his hands slowly came out and held hers "Why would you put everything on the line for me?"

"Because I will never leave my comrades behind", he said without hesitation once again "That's the promise I've made and that's one I'll keep forever".


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

AN: seeing as Damien's going to be in jail for a little while, let's get a little side tracked here

Eater of worlds

"Let me get this straight", said Sakuya with her eye twitching angrily through a monitor with Lindow on the other side "A fallen Ouroboros has invaded one of the god arc soldier facilities and they've asked cradle to take care of it?"

"Yes dear", replied the husband with a low voice.

"Why can't they send some other units? Why not send blood to take care of it? That Damien kid you told me about seems capable".

"He's in jail for disobeying orders", he said hanging his head even further down

Sakuya gave out a visibly loud huff of annoyance then finally took a few breaths and calmed down. "Do you think you'll be able to get in tonight? You know he won't fall asleep unless you read him a story first".

"I promise to get there in time", said Lindow smiling at her then blowing a kiss "Take care now, love you".

"Love you too", she said and put down the call.

Lindow breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she understood how trying it was to be a god eater. He took a moment and wondered what kind of gift he should get her when he sees his wife tonight.

"Aww Lindow", said another female's voice making him wake up with a start "You're such a romantic you know that?"

"How long were you listening?" he asked with a half frozen posture.

"The whole conversation of course", she replied casually then continued going through the mission on the tablet.

"Would you two pipe down and let me concentrate?" said Soma glaring at the two of them.

"Hey look", said Alisa pointing to something ahead.

The facility where they made the god arc soldiers were one of many. However the one near the far east branch was their biggest manufacturer so it was imperative for Fenrir to reclaim the base before more aragami arrived and caused trouble.

When they got inside they found it was oddly reminiscent of aegis island. They were standing on a platform that led to a large area surrounded by moulds of god arc soldiers. Opposite to them they found a fallen ouroboros with its back facing them, quietly devouring some of the machines.

"Alright", declared Lindow slinging his god arc off his back "This may not be our regular type of mission but let's wrap this one up and head home quick".

Not wanting to take this opportunity to make a joke, Alisa and Soma nodded in agreement, leapt off the platform and made their way to the aragami.

Like all other fallen aragami, the fallen ouroboros looked physically similar to the regular type. But it's body was fully black with the limbs white and had purple specs of light floating all around it. From what they found from their previous encounters, all of its regular weaknesses were gone and the only place they could land any real damage was the face… which was never a good thing when facing an ouroboros.

Sakaki's otherwise regular day at that office continued on. He quietly looked through all the reports and made sure to read all the updates from the teams. He also made a point to allocate more resources to the Cradle unit as they were gaining more traction among the public which meant that they needed as much behind the scenes help as they could.

Hibari popped in to deliver more paperwork for him to do and the doctor sighed to himself. It had been a long time since he had the chance to look at the stars and he missed his old hobby to no end. With Tsubaki devoting all her time to helping Cradle as well as helping out Sakuya, it meant he'd have to deal with the lion's share of the work all on his own.

Once again resigning himself to the fact that he would spend another day in this room, doing paperwork.

It was then he noticed one of the many computers before him started flashing an alert message. Curious and no doubt bored at the moment, he pulled the keyboard close and started typing. Once he enlarged the screen and inspected the information further, his eyes widened in surprise.

Slowly but surely his lips curled into a smile as he realized the monotony of his day to day was finally at an end. With a hum to himself, he got off his chair and headed right out of the door.

Alisa ran from left to right to avoid the barrage of beams being shot in her direction. Lindow lined up the target while that happened then fired a barrage of bullets in its direction. The aragami floundered a little as the bullets hit it, allowing Soma to come in close and slice off one of the six arms.

In response, the ouroboros shoved two of its other arms into the ground. The trio realized what was going on and immediately ran around the field to avoid the multiple spikes shooting up from the ground.

"Soma", Lindow called out and the smartest of the team took out a flashbang from his jacket then flung it at the target. It caused a momentary lapse, allowing Alisa and Lindow to fire constantly at its face.

The ouroboros saw Soma coming towards him and undid the tentacles that formed its right hand to fire them at him. The veteran leapt up right in time to dodge the attack then ran up the length of the aragami's arm before jumping off to land a deep slash on its face.

The aragami now rose higher into the air, all its arms turned to tentacles which meant only one thing. The trio moved back to avoid the swing but to their surprise they saw the aragami suddenly shoot out some of the tentacles at them which caught them completely off guard. The trio were all knocked high into the air because of this, hitting the ground hard.

"This is Sakaki to the Cradle unit, come in Cradle".

"Now is not the time to hear your voice old man", snarled Soma slowly getting to his feet.

"You need to leave the mission area immediately", he declared.

"Why?" asked Lindow "We can handle the ouroboros".

"It's not about the aragami", stated the doctor while the team now had to continue conversing with him at the same time dodging the aragami.

"Satellites picked up an object entering the atmosphere. At first it was believed to be a meteor but further inspection shows that the object was manmade. Now I know that only begs more questions but right now you three are dead smack in the objects trajectory so if you don't want to get vaporized upon impact, I suggest you get going".

"What do you guys think?" asked Lindow to the other two

"Not sure", said Soma "Old man's not the type to make jokes about this. I say we listen and head to the overlooking platform".

"If nothing happens after ten minutes then we resume the mission", declared Alisa as she lobbed off a flashbang towards the ouroboros, thus stunning it and giving them the time they need. The three of them quickly got to the platform and headed high up just as the aragami recovered and was now looking around for signs of the hunters.

"So it is", said Sakaki on the communicator. Lindow wanted to say something but Soma held his hand up to stop him. It was clear now that with whatever's going on, the doctor forgot to turn off his communicator.

"The object is actually slowing down", he said with delight "Should be seeing it any second now".

As if on queue, a portion of the facility was broken and an object flew through, ramming into the aragami and killing it instantly. Lindow, Alisa and Soma exchanged confused expressions and momentarily wondered if they should stay where they are.

"You realize that this is how all horror movies start", said Lindow at the back while Soma and Alisa moved forward, wading through the smoke that covered the field "We should just turn back now and head home, pretend we never saw the thing".

"Where's your sense of adventure?" asked Alisa

"Come on guys, what if it is an alien monster or something?"

"Then it'll probably go after the guy that's got a family waiting for him", replied Soma casually "That's how the formula usually goes".

Just then they heard something hissing followed by something metallic hitting the ground. Alisa and Soma stood their ground while Lindow walked up, his god arc ready. The second he sees something wrong, he's going to retaliate interstellar peace be damned.

The smoke had cleared enough that they could make out a silhouette ahead of them.

"AH", said the voice sounding like a girl "It feels good to be back home. I imagine that's more the case for you than me right?"

"Damn right", said another voice sounding like a guy "Any idea where we are?"

"It's a weird place… there are bodies all around us".

"What?" asked the boy sounding worried

"Don't worry the bodies don't have any penises", she said calmly

"WHAT?"

"I mean that they're not human bodies".

"Lead with that…. Oh man! How I missed the smell of actual air in my lungs. Hey computer, where are we?"

"Analysis indicates we are now on planet Terra, more commonly known as Earth", replied the computer with yet another familiar voice.

"Woohoo we made it", shouted the girl

"Yay", shouted the boy and the two continued leaping in the air shouting 'yay' like a pair of comic book characters till the boy went on one knee, possibly clutching his side.

"Careful now, your lungs have sustained five injuries so don't push it", chided the girl.

"Excuse me", said Alisa alerting the two in the smoke to her presence while also making Lindow take a step back "If you're injured then we can help".

"OHHH people", cried the girl out excitedly.

"Thank you but right now we need to go somewhere first", said the boy and got a nudge from the girl.

"Oh? Where are you guys going?"

"To the far east branch", replied the girl and the cradle units were honestly surprised by the answer "Wait you think it's still around? We have been gone for a while now".

"I doubt old man Sakaki would ever let anything happen to that place", said the boy matter of factly.

The trio who listened to the exchange were more than confused at this point. The two that were in smoke sounded so very familiar yet no matter what they did, none of the trio could recognize the source of the voice.

"It's me again", said Alisa "We can get you to the far east branch, but could you tell us your names?"

"Huh?" asked the boy suddenly raising his voice "They can't see us?"

"Of course not", remarked the girl "There's smoke remember?"

"How would I know that?"

"Oh right…" she said then giggled but got a shot to the head from the boy.

"Hold on a second miss", said the boy taking a step forward, revealing a large weapon in his hand.

The others took a few steps back as the boy swung his weapon out, dispelling the smoke around them in the process. When it was gone, Alisa, Lindow and Soma stared at the two before them, realizing why they sounded so familiar.

One had pale skin with white hair and yellow eyes. She was dressed in the same clothes they last saw her wear before being forced to say goodbye. She looked a little mature from before but still retained some of that innocence that made the group think of her as a sister.

"OH… my… god", said Shio her eyes opening just as wide as she pointed ahead of her.

The boy beside her wore on white pants with a black and red jacket and a black shirt underneath. His clothes were badly damaged and he sported multiple injuries from top to bottom. Most visible was the wrap of bandages that covered his eyes which answered a few questions as well.

"Hey wait a second", said James sniffing the air like a dog that caught a scent "Mango… shampoo".

"Alisa?" he asked "Is that you?"

The girl in question could not formulate an answer. The two veterans beside her were in the same spot as well. In everything they've seen and done so far, this had to top it off by a whole mile.

James had returned and beside him was Shio.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

AN: questions? Yes. But all I'm hoping for is that this is a twist no one saw coming…

Anyway this is going to be a long chapter because plenty of stuff is going to happen here.

Three year war

None of it made sense. Despite the evidence before them that pretty much summarized all their questions, all it served to do in the end was confuse them even more. There were many times where they blinked and shook their heads as if to confirm whether or not what they were seeing was a figment of their imagination.

"Hmm", said James sniffing the air a little more "If Alisa's here then that would mean Soma's here too. Which means that cologne must be Lindow's, did I miss anyone?"

"Nope all three of them", said Shio and the two of them made their way to the trio.

"Wow Soma", said Shio immediately embracing the man who had yet to fully grasp what was going on.

"Shio?" he asked slowly reaching out and touching her cheek. The girl smiled some more and said "Yep that's me".

"Oh wow Alisa", said James placing his hand right over her beret "You grew since I was gone. Ah then again you might be wearing on high heels… are you wearing high heels?"

"No", she said amazed at being able to say a single word despite the sight before her.

Now that she was closer to him, she confirmed her worst fears. The torn clothes and the sections where the fabric was darker were clear signs that he sustained multiple injuries. The most noticeable of wounds that he sported was the bandage around his eyes.

"James?" she asked slowly moving her hand from side to side before his face.

"Yep", he replied "Totally blind, have been for the past six months but don't worry too much about it".

'Don't worry?' she repeated in her mind and wanted to immediately object but James had already moved from her to Lindow, greeting him with a big hug.

"What's the matter big guy?" he asked taking a step back "Did something happen? You don't look all that good".

"Ah then again it's not like I can see a damn thing right", he added with a light hearted chuckle.

And that was the spark. All the questions and doubts that Lindow had vanished and now what remained was a white hot rage

Before he even knew what was happening, Lindow's fist shot forward, crashing into James' face and sending him into the ground.

"Lindow", shouted Soma and Alisa surprised by the action.

"Jokes?" he asked ignoring them and directing his anger towards the teen "You vanish for three whole years, without a word or a whisper. You go off to god knows where and not say a damn thing about it and now that you're back… you act like nothing's changed?"

To that question, James let out a deep sigh then slowly got to his feet. He took a moment to crack the knuckles in his neck, his posture changing in the process.

"Well guess all the fun and games are over", he said no longer sounding cheery and happy like he normally does "Shame."

"I know you have many questions and of course I'd like to answer them all but…" he looked around then tapped his foot against the ground "But this is neither the time nor the place for us to have that conversation."

He paused for a moment then looked up "Ah, good our rides here".

Alisa, Soma and Lindow turned around to see Sakaki coming towards them. The doctor went past the trio then stood before the boy and the girl, his mouth half open in shock.

"I… I can't believe it", he said looking at the two of them "I always believed that you'd complete the mission but as time went on, I never thought that you'd…"

"You did it James", he said unable to contain his excitement and immediately embraced James, lifting him up a little as well.

"And Shio", he said doing the same thing "You look older, more mature than I last remember".

He turned to James and asked "You were able to?"

"Through great difficulty yes", he replied scratching his head.

"Wait a second", said Alisa trying to voice the many more doubts that formed in her mind "You helped him?"

"Of course he did", replied James "How do you think I was able to build a working rocket that would take me to the moon and bring her back?"

"Ok, ok let me get this straight", said Soma "You built a rocket and then took it to the moon?"

James nodded in agreement allowing Soma to continue "If that wasn't enough you then got Shio back and took the same rocket you built back here".

"That would be correct", interjected Sakaki "How did the onboard AI hold up?"

"Digital Hibari was fun to talk to when things got real silent", he replied, glossing over a very glaring issue "But yeah she helped a lot when the chips were down".

"Well then let's not waste more time and get back", said Sakaki taking control of the situation "You all have plenty of questions and James here needs to get some medical attention stat. Let's head back to the base where we can all get what we want".

Nodding in agreement, the cradle unit headed back to their vehicle then drove to the far east. On the way there, the trio could not help but steal glances at Shio who continued staring out the windows excitedly.

"She is one hundred percent the Shio you know", said James as if noticing their gazes "All her memories and thoughts, opinions, dreams, hopes, likes, dislikes and tastes. Every single aspect of her personality and character was painstakingly brought back so that the girl you see is undeniably the girl we all remember".

"Of course there are a few changes", chimed in the albino girl with a knowing glance "But we can talk about that when we return.

"One more thing", said Sakaki on the communicator "I also asked Sakuya and Kota to remain at the base. I imagine you'd want them to be there when you explain everything as well right?"

"Thanks doc," said James "You sure thought of everything".

When they got back to the base and as they went up the elevator, they now turned their attention to James. Despite the injuries he sported, despite the obvious pain he was in; he did not let it show. He stood up on his own, barely relying on Shio to guide him through the lower section of the base.

When they emerged from the elevator, the trio were surprised to see that no one was around.

James took a step out, tapping the base of his god arc against the ground then bent down and placed his palm on the ground.

"Hmm", he said slowly standing back up "This is different, you did a little remodelling while I was away huh?"

"What's going on where is everyone?" asked Alisa ignoring his question.

"I gave them the day off", replied Sakaki "There's going to no doubt be a great uproar when the far east finds out that their star soldier has returned. But right now there are other pressing issues we should take care of first".

"And they've arrived", said James taking a step forward and heading up just as the elevator to the helicopter pad was opening out and through it came Sakuya and Kota. The two of them looked a little confused upon seeing the base completely empty but their eyes widened in shock when they saw the familiar face slowly coming up to greet them.

"James?" asked Kota looking like he was in a dream.

"Not just me, I also came with a friend", he said his right hand gesturing to the white haired girl beside him.

"Shio", said Sakuya looking even more confused than before "How is this all possible?"

"Long story", replied James like it was no big deal "One that I'm sure you're all eager to hear. So let's head to the directors office now".

Sakuya and Kota met up with Lindow, Alisa and Soma and whispered to each other about whether or not any of them knew. Of course no one from Cradle knew but the conversation continued on some more while James, Shio and Sakaki drew closer to the office.

Once they were all inside and had taken a seat, James took the initiative.

"Before we begin, I'd like to demonstrate to you all here the very foundation in which everything hinged upon".

Before any of them could speak, James clenched his fist, enveloping them all in a dome of light

'What the hell?' thought Alisa then looked shocked as everyone else could hear her

'At this point I have no questions anymore', thought Soma in defeat

'Man I wonder if I can watch some Bugarally tonight', thought Kota immediately earning him glares from nearly everyone. Of course there was someone else who had his own absurd thought in the form of a show tunes song. No need to guess who that person was.

"Anyway", said James making the dome vanish just like that "What you all experienced was a level 2 or hyper-resonance. Apparently because of the many times I interacted with Lindow's god arc some time ago, the oracle cells inside them came into contact with mine. Now normally in most cases, oracle cells fight each other, vying for dominance and if that were to happen to a human, he would no doubt turn into an aragami. But in my case, the two different sets of cells did not fight but instead worked together resulting in a new mutation. The hyper-resonance allows me to read the thoughts of those around but also allows others to read my thoughts as well so it's not as useful as one might think."

"Seeing as it really had no use in the field, it got me thinking that my basic resonance must have gotten much stronger as a result of the mutation. With that in mind I began to think about Lindow's case and how the resonance allowed me to travel into his mind and separate the human from the aragami".

"If such a thing was possible on a small scale, then surely it could be possible on a large scale as well".

"James that's insane", stated Soma "You got luck in that case, monumentally lucky. The fact that you're basing your whole plan on this one stroke of luck…"

"I know but as long as there existed the chance, however minute that I could separate Shio from the Nova… then it was something I just had to try out".

"After doing plenty of research, I understood that in order to get to the moon, I would need to build a rocket ship. Like the kind that humans once made before the aragami attacked and destroyed everything."

"And that was where I came in", said Sakaki taking control of the conversation "Having certain suspicions about James' behaviour at the time, I followed him and found out what he was planning. Of course when he told me everything, I thought he was downright insane but through some good convincing on his part, I gave up and decided to help".

"Wait I've seen those things in the old vids", stated Sakuya "Those things are huge and require a lot of building material, where did you get all that?"

"Most of the stuff could be found in the aragami that we normally hunt", replied James "As for the really rare stuff like fuel, I had to call in some friends of mine, less said about that the better".

"James even if you did manage to procure the resources, the time required to build that thing…."

"Had to give up a little sleep but it wasn't that bad. Besides, the rocket that we were building didn't need the fancy gizmos and gadgets you saw in the vids. Sakaki's plans called for a more bare bone type with the sole purpose of transporting a vast quantity of objects to and from the moon".

"And the night that we fought the Arius…" said Lindow

"Was the very same night that I left", said James completing the sentence "The moon was at its closest that time and I couldn't waste an opportunity like that".

"I made sure that everything was functioning well enough and saw James off", said Sakaki

"The trip itself wasn't all that eventful. Being weightless was a real pain because I couldn't do much training but five months later I was close enough to the moon to land".

"There is one important thing I want to know", said Alisa "Why did you decide to go on this mission?"

"Two reasons really, one was to get Shio back. And the other was to break the surly bonds that bind humanity down, reach for the skies above and punch God in the face!"

It came as no surprise to him that no one in the room reacted to his crazy rant.

"What's going on Shio?" he asked "Why are they not reacting?"

"Oh they're reacting alright", she replied and forced him down to his seat "It's just that they're not using words".

"Oh I can feel their stares penetrating me", he said and faked being hurt.

"James", cried out Kota trying to stop his shenanigans.

"What? I can't have a little fun before things get dark and serious."

"Let me be frank, this was no walk in the park or little excursion. In the time that Nova landed on the moon, it spread it's power and influence merging itself completely with the planet. If that wasn't enough it spawned countless aragami who had but one goal and that was to protect her".

"So from the moment I hit the ground, they were all coming at me with the intent to kill. And by the way the aragami on the moon would make most deusphages quake in their boots. The damn monkeys that Nova created could wipe out entire cities all on their own".

"Of course I didn't stop or anything like that. I continued on and kept fighting and fighting and fighting for days on end. Days went to weeks and weeks turned to months and months finally turned to years."

"Before I knew it I had wiped out nearly all of the indigenous population on the moon and had only one problem left, the Nova."

"Trouble was she had three years to learn everything there is to know about me. She had plenty of time to prepare for every strategy and tactic I could ever muster which was why she had me on the ropes for nearly two whole weeks".

"You guys fought for two weeks?" asked Sakuya in surprise

"Yeah, compared to everything else that happened before it didn't really feel that big a deal at the time", he said with a shrug.

"Eventually I realized that the only way to gain the advantage was through a risk. So betting everything I had on this gamble, I sacrificed my eyes to momentarily catch her off guard. In that moment I was able to overcome the difference in power and slay Nova's avatar form".

"Of course that was the easy part, the hard part was the next thing. I used resonance to look into the depths of Nova's consciousness and find the fragments of Shio which was no easy thing mind you. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack the size of the moon".

"But as you can all see the mission was a success and I was able to return Shio to her own body. Ah but there was one slight hiccup. It seemed that during the process, some of my human cells merged with her oracle cells."

"My oracle cells were able to read and analyse the DNA inside James' cells thus making my internal structure similar to that of a humans. And because of the cells that from James that mingled with my own, you could say that we're brother and sister".

"That aside", said James with a cough prompting her to get back to the main story.

"I saw James and he explained what happened then told me that we had to head back to where the retrieval ship was. Apparently he left the rocket and everything in orbit to prevent any aragami from destroying our getaway vehicle."

"I was able to help James along while fending off the aragami for a few months. While that happened, he got used to his blindness and was able to help me as well".

"Finally we got onto the retrieval ship then made a beeline back to earth".

"You know I find it pretty lucky that we just happen to land in the same area where you guys were", stated James.

"A lot of things on your mission dealt with luck", interjected Shio.

"So go ahead and ask", said James crossing his arms.

"Why James?" asked Lindow trying his best to sound calm "You knew how bad it was from the start, you knew the risks involved and the chances of survival so why? Why did you decided to launch this mission on your own and why the hell didn't you bring any of us with you?"

"Do me a favour and look around this room for me", he said at first "Now tell me who do you see?"

"James", said Alisa

"Because you know what I see? I see a loving, hardworking son and brother. He works his damndest every single day to provide for his family. I see a teenager who finally overcame the shadow of his father and is slowly but steadily trying to become an all-round, better person. I see the hardest working girl in the far east. She may have gotten off on the wrong foot but she's trying her best to make amends. I see a husband who got his second chance at life and loves his family to no end. I see a wife that through everything was able to get her own happy ending."

"I can talk about the others as well if you like but these are the facts", he said "Every single person here matters, all of you have your own hopes, dreams and goals so can you honestly tell me that I would be fine in having you drop everything and join me on the most insane quest in the history of the world?"

"Then if you know how bad it is, why did you go?" asked Lindow

"I'm expendable", he replied like it was no big deal "Out of everyone here, I have no family and did not make much of an impression here with others. It made sense that out of everyone, the least important one should take up the charge. If I died then it would be no big deal".

"No big deal?" asked Sakuya, her fists trembling furiously "You think that it's fine for you to go ahead and die?"

"Yes, as Sakaki called it some time ago, it's a ruthless pragmatism".

"I've heard enough", she said shooting up from her place and marched towards James. It came as no surprise to everyone that she furiously slapped James on the face before grabbing him by the collar and pulled him up."

"You think you don't matter? You think that you made no impression?" she asked, her voice at the edge of restraint.

"You ever wonder why Kota works so damn hard? It's because he always imagines how hard you worked and wanted to follow in your footsteps. How do you think Soma was able to free himself from his dad's shadow? It was because you started to reach out to him and continued to no matter how much he pushed back".

"Alisa? Who do you think made her realize what she was doing is wrong and had her change. How do you think he's even standing here if not for one damned idiot who refused to give up?"

The anger in her voice vanished and now became sad. Still clutching him by the sleeve she spoke in a lower voice "And how do you think I was able to get that happy ending? When things got rough and I wanted to give up, when it felt like I couldn't handle it anymore, who do you think was there for me?"

"You were there… for all of us James. You were a friend when we needed one, a kind ear to listen to everyone's troubles and you were always there to help us back up whenever we felt down."

"So don't you dare tell me that you don't matter James because you do, to everyone here and the others in the far east branch."

James remained silent throughout the entire tongue lashing and continued to do so after she was done. Letting her words sink in, the group were surprised to see two streaks of blood flowing from his eyes.

"Sorry", he said wiping the blood "Tear ducts haven't fully formed yet so whenever I cry… I cry blood and not normal tears. "I'm sorry… truly I am. I don't know how much trouble I caused but I swear I'll make amends".

"You don't have to do things like that James", said Sakuya sighing "Just promise you won't do stupid things like you normally do".

"Awww", he said taking a step back and faked being hurt "But you know me Sakuya, I'm always at the mercy of my whims and go wherever they take me, often leading me to trouble".

"James", warned the veteran

"I know, I know", he said sounding a little cheery now "I can't promise to completely change but I'll try to not be so troublesome".

"I guess that's the best we can hope for", said Soma with a sigh.

"There are a great many questions and no doubt all of this seems like a lot to take in", said Sakaki standing up from his seat "For now I suggest that we all head back to our rooms and get a little rest".

"By the way", said James tilting to the side so that Sakaki could see him "Do I still have my room?"

"Yes we've left it alone ever since you ran off on your little quest", replied the doctor "Also I've kept your status as M.I.A and not K.I.A, easier that way".


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Confession

"Wait you plan on going back to being a god eater?" asked Kota in surprise

"Of course I do", said James with a shrug "Not right away mind you, I have to first recover from all the injuries and my god arc needs to recover as well. It took a real beating throughout that war so until my partner's back to normal I won't be going out in the field".

"Plus if not for me, who's going to feed dear Shio?" he asked patting the girl beside him on the head "You know this girl's got a monstrous appetite".

"I do not", she objected with a huff.

"Yes you do. That time you downed a tank and started eating, I swear it was like a buzz saw against a wall of metal", he added and got a nudge from Shio.

"Let's get one thing clear, he may look older but I'm clearly the more mature sibling between the two".

"Oh so you've got no problem with being related?" asked Soma.

"Well yeah, he is an idiot in a lot of things…."

"Hey".

"But he's a dependable idiot".

"That is true", said Kota smiling to himself.

"Well we should let you get some rest", said Lindow "We'll talk tomorrow".

James nodded and one by one, the team slowly left the room till only Sakaki, Shio and James were all that remained.

"So you waged war with a godlike being and survived with only physical injuries?" asked the doctor, raising his eyebrow "That may have worked with the others but you know me right?"

James sighed and got to his feet "Doctor, you should know that being so perceptive isn't a good thing."

"I'll remember that now show me the gift that Zeus gave you, Prometheus".

"Huh?" asked Shio "Who's that?"

"Apparently he was a guy from an time long ago who stole fire from the gods and Zeus who was the king at the time, punished Prometheus by making him immortal".

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing", said the girl curiously.

"He then chained Prometheus to a statue and have his eagle consume his insides. It would consume him till he died and after that, his organs would regenerate and he'd have to endure that nightmare all over again".

James proceeded to slowly remove his jacket along with unbuttoning his shirt. Once his top was removed, Sakaki took a good long look then said "Why am I not surprised?"

"Wow", said Lindow taking a seat in the lounge area along with the rest of the group "I know we all had ideas about what happened to him…"

"But who would have thought he'd go wage war with a whole planet for three years?" asked Soma shaking his head "I mean the whole idea itself sounds…"

"Insane?" said Sakuya finishing the sentence "Truth be told I still can't wrap my head around the idea."

"None of it sounds believable", said Kota with arms behind his head in a pensive mood "Building a rocket itself should take years of work".

"At this point we should just accept that he's the type of person who's only limited by himself", said Soma

"What do you mean?"

"You know those types right Lindow?" he said nodding to the veterans "They're the type who can face whole armies on their own without any problem but choose not to for a whole bunch of reasons".

"It's more like he's a special kind of idiot", said Shio injecting herself into the conversation which surprised everyone.

"When I was part of Nova, I was able to see the whole war like she did", said the girl while descending the stairs "Because Nova fused with the whole planet, she… it was able to see the whole world and from the moment he hit the ground, Nova watched him wage an impossible war".

"There were times when he suffered the worst type of injuries, there were times when he looked like he might have died…"

"But he never gave up did he?" asked Lindow with a smile "Yeah, it does take a unique idiot to always keep going no matter how bad it gets".

"By the way where is he?" asked Kota

"Sakaki asked him to stay behind a little longer. No doubt he's trying to convince James not to do anything stupid for a few months".

"Well it's not like he can return to being a god eater right away", said Alisa "His wounds aside, I saw his god arc; it looked in a terrible condition so it'll take time for Licca to repair it".

"Oh boy Licca", said Sakuya "It just occurred to me that the others have no clue about it".

"What are we going to tell them?" asked Alisa "It's not like we can tell them the truth. It's too insane by any standards".

"I'll leave it to James to come up with that", said Shio waving her hand then sighed "I don't know why but I'm feeling real tired right now, is this what humans call jet lag?"

"I guess", said Soma with a shrug "How much of his cells transferred to you?"

"Not sure", replied the girl "But there's enough that I don't need to spend too long learning everything about humans".

"Still I want to be sure that you come off as human as possible", he stated "Do me a favour and come with me for now. I'd like to run a few questions by you if you don't mind".

"And you're sure you don't want me to look into any cures for you?" asked Sakaki while James put his jacket on.

"Nope, as things stand I'm getting used to the change. And with the basic preventative measures in place, we have nothing to worry about".

"Very well but I must insist that you remain on the bench till I can get your eyes and your god arc back", he added "The eyes will be easier but the god arc might be another case".

"Figured that", he said trying not to sound disappointed then left the room.

When James arrived at the lounge area, he found that nearly everyone had left, except for one person.

"Alisa, where are the others?" he asked to the only other person in the room.

"Lindow and Sakuya are pretty tired out after everything that happened", she replied "Soma said he wanted to test Shio out on whether or not she passed off as a human".

"Sounds like a good idea… considering what I plan on telling the others", he said rubbing his chin causing Alisa to glare at him.

"You know your glare is ten times scarier than any aragami I faced on the moon", he said hesitantly pointing to her.

"Wait you saw that?"

"Not in the literal sense no", he replied "Trust me the explanations too long so let's leave that aside".

"James there is one more thing the others have decided on", she said wondering how he would take it "Seeing as you're blind we decided that one of us should help you around the base till the doctor can restore your sight".

"And they picked you?" he asked and received silence as an answer. "No".

"What?"

"No", he said firmly "For one thing I have Shio to lug me around from place to place".

"But…"

"Secondly this is not something new to me. I've had six months to familiarize myself being blind and I did that while in the most hostile place you can imagine. Trust me, I only look like crap because most of the dangerous wounds have yet to heal."

"And not only that it's not like I'm going on missions with anyone so I won't be a liability on the field. So trust me when I say you're better off going back to work instead of taking care of me".

"Now if you'll excuse me I'm heading to my room", he said and took the elevator to his room without lingering there for too long.

Though he appreciated the sentiment behind their actions, James did not like that the others believed he needed help. He paused for a moment and wondered if he really looked that bad off but shook his head to return back to his original train of thought.

Just then he heard a knock on the door.

"Shio is that you?" he called out but received no answer "Just push the door and come in alright".

Still all he received was silence.

"Oi tiny don't tell me you're feeling hesitant now of all times", he called out turning to the door but he could sense that it did not move at all.

Finally having enough and growling a little, James marched to the door then opened it and said "If you don't want to open a door normally then kick it down. That's my go to move on certain occasions".

However he received no normal answer. Instead James suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his head and before he could retaliate, he felt a pair of lips on his own. He moved back a little but the person refused to let go of him. This confusion kept going till James felt his legs hit the bed causing him to sit down.

James flailed about trying to tell the person who was kissing him to stop but they did not care apparently. Despite his mind going crazy, he did understand that it was a girl kissing him. With that piece of information he quickly eliminated the possibilities. As that happened, the girl pushed him onto the bed.

He immediately ruled out Sakuya and Shio of course saw him like a weaker younger sibling. Which meant only one person could have…

"Alisa?" he said and the girl finally moved back then took a breath and said "I love you".

"What?" he said trying to rise up but she pinned his arms down. Given his current physical state, he was as dangerous as a baby to a veteran such as her. That aside, her words only served to confuse him more.

"What are you talking about?" he asked

"I'm in love with you, I've been that way ever since you woke me up from that coma", she said "At the start I only thought of you as a rival, as someone that I had to be better than if I wanted to find out more about my family."

"But then I learned more about you, how hard working you were, how you got along with everyone and how you tried your hardest to help everyone here. And when things got bad, you pushed yourself harder than anyone else around."

"All of a sudden I started to think more and more about you", she continued, not noticing that James had rose up. "At first I tried to bury it deep underneath, telling myself that it was only something momentary, but it wasn't. Those feelings only grew more and more and because of that I wanted to spend more time with you, wanted to go on more missions with you".

"Of course I never could say what was on my mind so I kept skirting around the issue, hoping you'd take the initiative", she added then gently punched him in the stomach "Idiot".

"I was hoping that after we beat the Arius, the two of us could spend a little time together and then I'd tell you but before I knew it, you vanished".

"So", she said tightening her grip on both his arms "No more excuses, no more holding back James. I love you and I want us to start going out. And from now on anytime you decide to do something, whether it be going on a mission or doing something stupid, you're taking me with you".

"Because I spent three years thinking you'd gone off and died so you owe it to me", she added, her voice sounding a little lower in that last sentence.

James remained silent for the longest of times, which only served to worry Alisa more. He tilted his head back possibly thinking about something before finally looking at her.

"You want to know something ironic?" he asked and she wondered what he was trying to do but nodded in agreement

"I had a huge crush on you as well", he said and Alisa blinked in surprise.

"You liked me?" she asked

"Yep"

"Then why didn't you say anything you jerk?" she shouted this time hitting him hard in the chest, causing him to groan.

"Because there was always the next big threat to deal with", he replied "Compared to that, I didn't want to be the selfish person that thought about his own feelings so I never said anything".

"And if we're being totally honest with each other", he said with a light chuckle but lowered his head "I thought you might turn me down?"

"Huh?" she asked moving back a little and nearly fell off the bed but James put his arms around her waist and brought her closer.

"Well in my defence I thought you were real pretty", he said trying not to blush right now.

"We're?"

"Blind remember?"

"Oh sorry"

"Don't be", he said and the two laughed a little.

"So Alisa, fair warning; I'm not that quick on certain things, never gone on a date my whole life and will of course get on your nerves from time to time. Having heard all that, you still think we should be a couple?"

Alisa chuckled a little at the question and decided not to answer using words. Instead she leaned in close to give him a gentle kiss on the lips.

AN: ok now that we've got that out of the way, let's get back to our MC.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Blood and water

After what felt like an eternity being alone with his thoughts, Damien was finally released from prison. When released he was greeted by Fran who informed him that it was thanks to the continued efforts of Julius and Ciel that he was released after a few days and not after a week.

"I'll make sure to thank them later", he said smiling

"I know its normal procedure to get you something to eat and give you at least a day to catch up on everything…" said Fran as they made their way into the elevator "But we need your help with an upcoming mission".

"I'm all ears", said Damien

"A friend of Gil's from the far east branch arrived with some startling information. A very powerful and very rare type of aragami code named the Rufus Caligula was spotted in the area near the far east branch."

"Wait I heard reports about that type during my training days", said Damien stopping and looking at her "A unique type of aragami that was said to be the death of at least one god eater from the Glasgow branch right?"

"The god eater that died was Kate Lawry, a close friend to both Gilbert and Haruomi?"

"Who's that?"

"The god eater from the far east that's come to help us", she said then continued "Given the nature of this mission, Julius stated that he wants you, Nana, Ciel and Romeo on the mission."

"What about Haruomi and Gil?"

"Julius believed the two of them are too close to this and he wants them here where they're safe. But he did also tell me to get your opinion seeing as you've gone on many missions with Gil".

Damien pondered the idea while they made their way up in the elevator. Though he had no idea about this 'Haruomi' person as they did not meet when he was in the far east, he knew Gil to some extent.

The guy was the definition of a lone wolf type and he understood why. Given the rumours around his nickname 'fragging gil', Damien did feel a little apprehensive when he first met the guy.

But as time went on, he found that first impressions are not everything. The guy had proven to be a dedicated god eater on many occasions both on and off the field. Though his personality in between missions left a lot to be desired, he was a valuable addition to the team.

Which was why when he met with the others in the waiting room, he made his declaration

"So Haru, you and I", said Gil adjusting his cap then turned his attention to Haru, asking him "You okay with that?"

Haruomi Makabe was a man, roughly the same height and age as Gil with green coloured hair, set in an unkept manner. He wore a black leather jacket with a couple gold zips on the torso and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He wore on a pair of marron coloured pants with a gold belt and two chains that led to his pocket. Along with that were his white boots with the top slightly bent down, revealing the leopard print pattern inside.

"Well I do have a few reservations to be honest", said Haru with a shrug "But if he's half as good as you say he is then we shouldn't be in too much trouble".

"Damien I understand what you're trying to do here", said Julius "but…"

"If it helps then you, Nana, Ciel and Romeo will be our reserve team", stated Damien

"Considering how long this aragami's been around, its safe to say that it must have a few tricks up its sleeve so be careful", said Damien to his teammates "Alright if there's nothing else to say then I suggest we head to the mission area right now".

The trio headed to the helicopter and without long, they were at the sunken carrier. They wandered around a little bit, nearing the rear of the carrier and immediately spotted the red giant with its back towards them.

"Shall we?" asked Haru with a smile to the other two who nodded. They all switched to gun mode, sending out a barrage of fire that got the aragami's attention. It slowly rose to its feet then turned around and roared at the team before unsheathing its claws and started running towards the trio.

Gil and Damien leapt to the side to dodge it. Haru jumped up and continued firing as the aragami drew closer. He landed on top of it and started attacking the back of the aragami. Rufus tried to knock Haruomi off it but it was hit hard in the face by Gil's spear.

It swiped at Gil, sending him into the wall nearby while Damien hit it on the side of the neck then spun his sword around and hit it on the base of its foot. The aragami leapt back and shot a pair of fireballs at him and he slashed it away.

Gil and Damien closed in on it and the aragami responded by jumping into the air then knocking them back with a vertical swing of its tail. While Gil and Haruomi were knocked a good distance by the attack, Damien held his ground and stared down at the aragami.

The aragami hit the ground with its right fist causing pillars of fire to form all around it and forcing Damien to dart from side to side, preventing any form of attack. His opponent wasted no time and switched to its blades, darting towards its target and landed a heavy blow on its opponent. Had Damien not formed his shield up in time, the damage would have been much worse. He reached into his jacket and took out a paralysis trap then lobbed it at the enemy thus holding it in its place.

Seeing the opportunity to attack, Damien launched forward, not noticing how his targets arms started glowing till it was too late. The Caligula then conjured up a pillar of fire around it with Damien paying heavily for the mistake.

The god eater staggered back from the attack, dusting the flames off his jacket and resuming the attack. The Caligula ran towards him with its blades ready and started swiping at him but Damien flipped over it when the aragami was close and struck the hardened protrusions it had on its back.

The aragami fell to the ground in pain, but slowly rose back up with jets of energy shooting out from its back and taking the form of wings. It hovered ominously in the arc and Damien wondered just how bad things were about to get.

He noticed a god arc sword sticking out of the creature's right side and understood who it must have belonged to. His sword glowed red and he fired a wave of energy slashes at the Caligula, forcing its attention on him. The Caligula darted towards him then struck with a barrage of swings from the blades on its arms. Damien expertly ducked and weaved his way through them all while Haruomi and Gil slowly got back to their feet.

"Hold on, I'm coming", called out Haruomi making a beeline towards Damien's location while the aragami flew forward, striking with its blades. Damien held his shield up to block it but the force of the attack, knocked his god arc away.

"Damn it", said Gil grinding his teeth. Throwing caution to the wind, the older god eater charged forward, with only one outcome in his mind. The Caligula turned around to try and attack him but Haruomi attacked it with numerous shots to the face while Damien ran towards it and punched the god arc on its neck deeper inside.

Gil silently thanked the two of them for their help, then with one sudden yell he thrust his spear forward. In response, his god arc was suddenly covered in a red glow, the tip crashing into the aragami's chest and emerging out of its back. The aragami swiped at Gil trying to get him to let go but Haruomi struck its right arm back while Damien lopped off the left arm.

Gil watched it flail about a little more, then he saw the light in its eyes fade before it finally fell down, never to get back up.

"Oh boy", said Haruomi sitting on the ground while Gil went to Damien.

"That was a seriously reckless move Gil", said the vice captain shaking his head dismissively "How did you even know your blood power would activate like that?"

"Actually I had no idea", he said adjusting his cap "I just knew I couldn't stand by anymore and decided it was time to end that thing one way or another".

"Well I guess we should count ourselves lucky then" said Damien sighing in relief "Man that one was tough".

"I'd consider this a good time to celebrate", said Hauromi suddenly putting his arms around the duo "Come on, let's head back to base. I'm sure Friar should at least have a decent bar".


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

AN: holy hell, the second work has nearly 200 views? That's so awesome. Mega thanks to everyone in the community that viewed this, it really means a lot to me.

Also if anyone knows what symbols can be used to show some time had passed please let me know. I've been trying to use the stars and the copyright symbol but it never shows in the complete work which makes the chapter look unprofessional.

Strength of the soul

With the addition of Gil's new blood power to the mix, the team from friar now had four people with the power of blood. Julius was able to create a lvl 3 burst on all teammates, combined with Gil's buff in attack power, Ciel's ability to see weaknesses in the enemy and Damien's weapon buff and the blood unit became all the more formidable.

As a result, they completed mission after mission at incredible speeds. Of course this meant that a lot of times Julius was stuck doing the paperwork once the mission was complete.

"Hey captain", said Damien chancing upon his superior officer and Ciel who were sitting in the garden and doing their work.

"I thought I might come in and tag you out", he said with a smile but Julius gave him a confused look.

"Damien wants to do the paperwork while you take a break", stated Ciel and the captain was mildly surprised.

"Sorry, I'll try sticking to normal talk from now on…" said Damien with a nervous laugh "And here I was hoping I might lighten the mood".

"No it's my own fault", said Julius standing up and rubbing his forehead "I've been doing so much work lately that I've barely had much time to relax".

"But I'd like to take you up on your offer", he said "Please take care of things for now. I'll be in my room if you have any doubts".

With that said, the teenager left the room and Damien paused for a moment with his gaze wandering to Ciel.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked with a concerned look

"I thought you wanted to take a break as well", he said

"No I'm still able to help", she said and the two started their work.

As they both continued their work, Ciel could not help but notice Damien staring her way now and then. He would slowly turn to look at her, realize what he was doing and immediately turn back to his work. She was somewhat concerned about this as he might have missed something important. The girl traded his work with hers, just to check if he missed anything which thankfully he did not.

When they were done Damien stretched his hands and legs out while Ciel let out a little yawn but tried her best to hide it.

"So Ciel, any plans after this?" he asked

"Well I was going to the training room to practice a little on my technique", she replied "What about you?"

"Uh well, I was… going to do some work…. And call Kota…" he said not making eye contact with her "If you'll excuse me I should get going now".

Before she could react to this, Damien turned around and darted out the door. When he was outside, he cursed himself for not being so straight forward like he wanted to.

"Damn it dude, come on stop being such a kid and ask her out", he muttered to himself continuing forward, not noticing that someone ahead was waving out to him.

"Ok, ok momentary setback. Just take a chill and focus, there are bound to be plenty of opportunities that'll come in the future", he said to himself drawing nearer.

"Hey", called the voice out to him but he was still too in his own mind.

Damien continued this way, till he finally hit something hard causing him to fall onto his backside. When he looked up, he gave was both surprised and confused to see Nana standing before him with a concerned look.

"You look listless", she said helping him back to his feet "What's on your mind?"

"A lot of things", he said with a distant look then shook his head "Sorry did you want to talk about something?"

"Actually I was hoping you'd come with me on a little mission", she said "Don't worry, this will be a recon only mission so we don't need to bring our god arcs with us".

Seeing as this fresh perspective could help with his currently troubled mind, Damien decided the best thing to do right now was go with her. The two of them reported to Fran that they'd be taking the mission and drove to the ghettos to start their investigation.

They found that recently, the village was constantly harassed by a new type of Psion. According to eyewitness reports, the aragami bore a resemblance to the chi you types as it sported a pair of wings as well but unlike the lower ranking aragami, this one had a more elegant look to it.

Though not much information to go on, the duo headed to the locations where the aragami was spotted. They examined the tracks it made as well as the small houses it destroyed. Based on how the structures were damaged by a weapon that resembled a bird claw.

"We should head back to HQ and report our findings", he said and Nana nodded. The pair got into the car, driving back to Friar where they presented their findings.

"Thank you for this information", said Rachel with a soothing smile on her face "I'll have one of our satellites rerouted to record and index and footage of that location. Once we have clear evidence of the aragami, I'll be sure to send you."

The pair saluted then left the room. Outside Nana invited Damien to her room for dinner and the boy happily obliged. It came as no surprise to him that she had some oden sandwiches made for him when he arrived. The pair started talking about all manner of subjects from why Gil wore on a cap to what kind of food Ciel liked.

"Nana," he said finishing off the last sandwich on his plate "You mind my asking, why do you like these sandwiches so much?"

"Oh that's easy, its because my mom made these for me whenever I did something good like help out with the laundry, clean up the house".

"What did your mom do?"

"She was a god eater like me and was the best to be honest", she said sticking her chest out proudly "One time I kid you not, she took down a kongou with one strike that's it. I was so amazed when I saw that happen, I knew I wanted to be like her when I grew up".

"By the way Damien, what about your family?" she asked.

"Mom and dad died in an aragami attack when I was still in diapers", he replied casually "Some agents from Fenrir found me in the wreckage and brought me back to their youth facilities".

"Oh I heard about those", said the girl with a troubled expression "Are those as bad as the stories make them out to be?"

"Nah its nothing like that", he said waving his hand "Sure there are a few kids that act out but everyone who's there understands why they're there and we all kinda do our best to get along with each other".

"Wow that's pretty nice, although in my honest opinion it would have been nice if you joined magnolia like Julius, Ciel, Romeo and I."

Damien was a little confused by the statement then did his best not to let it show. The teen understood that just like others in the blood unit, Nana too lost her mother. After all her job was the most dangerous one in the world.

"Do you miss her?" he asked in a low voice.

"Sometimes I do but then I take a bite of my sandwich and remember the time I spent with her. Oh my goodness Damien, I only noticed now that you finished eating. You want some more sandwiches?"

"Uh… no thanks, this stuff is pretty filling".

"Really? I don't see it"

Damien then thanked the girl for her kindness and headed to his room. Wondering how the girl was able to maintain her figure while eating more than everyone at blood unit combined. The teen then shook his head and continued towards his room, glad of the fact that she did not ask too much about his past or his childhood.

One of the things that Damien had to be careful about when becoming a god eater was coming up with a decent lie. As far as higher ups were concerned, his family was saved by a god eater. To the team, his family died in an aragami attack when he was young

The second lie however had some small truth in it, in that he never knew who his parents were. His earliest memories of childhood were with six other children his age and after that…

Damien shook his head, trying to forget that terrible memory. Once inside his room he pressed his back against the wall, slid down and stayed that way.

Try as he might though, Damien was visited by his spectre of the past. Thanks to that he did not sleep as long as he wanted to and spent most of the night in the training room with his god arc. He drew up a program simulating a mission that was similar to the night his life took a dramatic turn and made at least thirty powerful aragami's appear.

Damien channelled his blood powers into his sword and screamed out at the aragami before charging at them like a madman. Back then he was weak, back then he was only a child who had to watch in silence as his bonds were torn apart by a monster.

But now things were different, now he had strength. Not just physical strength but mental strength as well. He trained hard everyday, pushing himself to the limit each and every day, all so that when the time came he would confront that monster and slay it once and for all.

"James", he said slicing the head off a monkey, watching it's body fall limp. Truth be told, Damien always believed that someone like him would have died pretty soon which was why when he heard the name being said by Kota, it sent a shiver down his spine.

But he took it in his stride however and saw it for the opportunity that it was. With a little luck on his side, he would eventually come face to face with James and when he does…

AN: hooo boy looks like there are plenty of skeletons in both their closets but I wonder, what did James do to make Damien hate him this much?


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

A stacked deck

The newly found aragami now dubbed as 'Yan Zhi' was added to the list of aragamis known as Psion's. Damien missed this lecture during his orientation time so had to be reminded once again by the others about the new type of aragami. Just like the one they encountered some time back, causing the awakening the Psions were a new breed of aragami causing trouble to many as they were able to disable the oracle cells in nearly all god arcs except for those in the blood unit.

Which is why someone like Damien who could awaken the power of blood within others was a very valuable asset to the team, the more around him that awoke, the better their chances were against the aragami.

"In this operation we're going with Damien, Ciel, Gil and myself", said Julius in the briefing room "We'll have Nana and Romeo remain on standby but I'd like you to stick to using traps or flashbangs at most", he added to the other two "Your blood powers haven't awakened so it'd be ill advised to engage the enemy."

"Also for this mission I'll be handing over leadership to Damien", he added surprising the teenager. Realizing this, Damien decided for now to calm himself and ask questions later. With a nod from Julius who left the podium, Damien stepped up, outlining his plan.

"We'll be sticking with an encompassing layout like normal", said Damien "Now this is a new type so everyone keep an eye out for any kinds of weaknesses in the body that we can exploit".

"I know we've all got our blood powers but I've been doing an analysis on them and found that they do put a strain on our bodies which is why I'll be asking you to only use those powers in a last ditch effort".

With a nod of compliance from the team they headed to the helicopter and arrived at the mission location.

When the team reached, they noticed the aragami making its way through a building. The thing that many found strange about it (apart from how it resembled a Chi-You) was that it was the most human like aragami they had seen while also looking a lot like a bird. Most of its body was covered in aqua blue and yellow feathers. Of course just like a bird that had beauty and elegance, it also had a pair of talons on its feet.

The team nodded and started their mission by firing at the aragami. When hit by the bullets, the aragami turned around, creating a field around it and all of a sudden a trio of brightly coloured ogretails popped up from the ground before the psion and started charging towards the team.

"What the hell?" cried out Gil in surprise

"Fran are you getting this?"

"Getting what?" asked Fran

"The aragami, the new ones that arrived"

"No, we're only seeing the one aragami you've engaged".

"Alright change up on the plans", said Damien to the others "Ciel, Julius and Gil, take out the ogretails and I'll take care of the big one".

Nodding in agreement, the team separated. Ciel, Gil and Julius formed a firing line and had the ogretails focus on them while Damien made a beeline towards the Psion.

The aragami rose to the air a little then attacked with the claws on its feet. Damien blocked it with the shield but it did not let up and released a barrage of swipes with its claws. He moved underneath it then came up behind and struck it on the back. The aragami staggered forward a little then spun around with another swipe. Though he blocked it, the force of the attack sent him crashing through one of the buildings.

"Hey guys what's the deal with those smaller aragami?" asked Damien coming out of the rubble and shooting his target. Unfortunately it took to the skies and was able to avoid his barrage with ease.

"Small problem", commented Julius jabbing his sword into the ogretails mouth, skewering it through and through "Whenever we kill one of them, another seems to just pops up and continues".

"Damn it", he hissed but could not stay in one place as he had to dodge a barrage of very sharp feathers that his target formed and fired at him.

"This is bad, I'm going in to help", stated Nana and grabbed her god arc and leaving her cover.

"Wait Nana", shouted Romeo putting his hand on her shoulder "If you go out there you're only going to make things harder for everyone else".

"Standing around here and doing nothing while everything goes to hell isn't doing any favours either", countered the girl and darted right out.

As she made her way to the field, she remembered her childhood, remembered how her blood power actually did awaken when she was young. She remembered how she brought about the deaths of those who tried to save her and how much she punished herself for what happened that night.

Upon reaching the battlefield and seeing her comrades all being pushed back by the psion, she calmed her mind and remembered the emotions and feelings of that night that brought about her awakening.

All of a sudden, the team on the ground noticed the aragami's turning their attention to something in the distance. Damien saw Nana was the source of this as she led all four aragami after her.

"What is going on?" asked Ciel

"No time for that", stated Damien "Everyone activate your blood powers now, we're going to end this fight".

Julius first activated his power, enveloping the four of them in a high level aura of burst energy. Gil then increased the strength of the group while Ciel used her powers to search for a weakness.

"I've found one", she said finally then pointed to the left wing "It must have injured itself in a fight with another aragami and is trying to hide it".

"Alright, Julius head after Nana and take some off the heat off her", declared Damien "The rest of you with me".

The team split up on those orders. Gil fired at the Yan Zhi, forcing it to turn to him. It was about to rise and up and swoop down at them but Ciel aimed carefully at its injury and fired. The bullet travelled the distance at incredible speeds, crashing into the injury and making it even worse.

Seeing this chance Damien channelled his powers into his sword, activating his blood power.

"Hey bird brain", he called out and the largest faced him.

"Game over", he said swinging his sword down. When the sword hit the ground, it created a massive shockwave of energy that the aragami had no defence for. It tried to take to the skies to avoid it but it was an effort in futility as the wave of energy was much faster than it, cleaving the aragami in two with little to no effort.

The trio looked at the split aragami for a moment, then immediately went in the direction of Julius and Nana. By the time they reached, they saw Julius carrying Nana on his shoulder. Not needing to know more, Damien signalled for the chopper then loaded everyone on and headed back to base.

When they got back, Nana was sent to their hospital where the doctors gave her a quick check up. The doctors then informed the team that her blood powers in particular put an immense strain on her physical body so it would be advised that they not have her use her powers too often in the field.

"How do you feel?" asked Julius once the others had gone back to their rooms.

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard from Ciel that your blood powers have grown a little stronger now. You're able to use powerful and destructive attacks that can take down aragami in a single swing", he elaborated "Surely something like that is bound to tire you out".

"Oddly enough I don't feel all that bad", said Damien looking at his wrists casually "Maybe it's one of those things that you'll only feel when you go to sleep but right now I feel great".

"Alright then, get a good rest because tomorrow you'll be heading back to the far east branch", said Julius turning around "Reports of the psion you first encountered have started cropping up all over there".

Damien watched Julius leave, relieved that he would be visiting that place once again. Try as he might to adjust to Friar, there was always something off about the whole place that he could not quite put his finger on. The mood around the far east branch was much more welcoming compared to this place and he welcomed the idea of going back there.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Reunion

Haruomi started his day off a little differently today. Instead of heading to the cafeteria like he normally did everyday, he sent out a message to Gil asking him how he was doing and how things were going over there at Friar. He didn't get a reply right away but that never surprised him, Gil may have been slowly coming out of his shell but it was a work in progress.

Satisfied his message reached his friend, the man headed to the cafeteria and resuming his day like he normally would. There was no one around so early in the day with the exception of Mutsumi and Cappy (the capybara).

"Good morning Mutsumi", he said with a wide smile, greeting the 9 year old chef "How are you on this fine day?"

"Doing great as usual", said Mutsumi smiling back at him "You want the usual?"

"Please and thank you", and the girl poured him a cup of coffee.

While he downed the glass, occasionally throwing a question her way he noticed the door open and through it wandered a man he had never seen before. The man wore on white pants with blank accents on the sides, a red Fenrir jacket and a black shirt underneath. The most striking characteristic of the man was the wrap of bandages covering his eyes, yet the way he walked showed that this injury was not something new to him at all.

"Wonder how the doc was able to make all this happen", mused James to himself turning on one heel and using the sound of his footsteps to make out the room he was in.

He now turned to the two at the table, sat on one of the stools and asked Mutsumi if she could make a cup of tea.

"Sure coming right up", she said cheerfully "By the way, I haven't seen you around here".

"Ah that's because I just came back from a really long mission", said James turning to Haruomi "James Castor", he said extending his hand out to Haru who hesitantly returned the gesture.

"Hmmm", said the god eater stroking his chin "James, that names sounds familiar, have we met before?"

"No we haven't met but I have done a fair share of missions a while back", he replied then turned to the table where his tea was served.

Mutsumi nearly reached out to guide his hand to the cup but found he did not need any help. The man easily found the cup and slowly drank the contents.

"Oh wow that's amazing", he exclaimed in delight "Ma'am you are an incredible chef".

"Ah well I don't think so", said the girl taken aback by the statement.

"No its true," he added grasping her hands "You are an incredibly talented chef and at such a young age. I can only imagine how great you're going to be once you grow up".

"Wait a second… how'd you know she was young?" asked Haru

"The size of her hands and the sound of her voice", replied James "Plus when you consider the height of the table itself in concert with the stools, it was clearly made for someone much shorter than average height".

The duo paused at the sudden burst of information, prompting James to let out a nervous chuckle and say "Ah sorry about that".

Haru was about to ask something else when he heard someone from the door yelling "James" before seeing the man in question being tackled to the ground.

"Kanon", were the only words he said before his face was smothered by Kanon, pulling him in for a tight hug.

"Oh my god James I missed you, I can't believe you were gone for so long and what happened to you? we have so many things to talk about and I want you to see my mom as well, oh mom's going to be really happy to see you again she always asked about you".

While the girl continued speaking so fast no one could understand, Haruomi saw James' hand flail about a little, indicating that he needed help or would pass out from lack of oxygen.

"Wait a second", said Haru causing Kanon to release her grip on James a little, allowing the man to take a deep breath of air.

"James… isn't that the guy who helped lower your FF percentage Kanon?"

"Yep", she said smiling and tightening her grip while James struggled to break free "He was a big help to me back then."

"Holy hell", said Haru with his eyes opening wide causing Mutsumi to ask "What? Did you remember something?"

"James Castor", he said looking at the blind man "Vanguard".

The little girl at the table gasped in shock, realizing who he was while James rested his head on Kanon and said "Yep but please call me James, never was a fan of that name".

"Ah that reminds me", said Kanon pushing him back "Where did you go?" she shouted followed by punching him in the arm.

"OW", he cried out, holding the part of his arm that got hit and asked "Why?"

"Because"

"That isn't an answer".

"It is", said Haru lowering his head a little "Trust me buddy it is."

"By the way", he said trying to ignore the penetrating glare he was getting from Kanon "I never got your name".

"I'm Haruomi Makabe and the nice little girl you spoke to is Mutsumi Chikura", he said "I'm Kanon's superior".

"Oh", said James in surprise then turned to her and the girl gasped in shock.

"What is it?"

"I just noticed, you're blind, how did that happen?"

"You only noticed that now?" cried out James and Haru together.

"Well if was busy with other things", said the girl in her defence "How did that happen?"

"Long story, trust me", said James with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Speaking of stories I have to ask, are the stories true?" asked Haruomi

"That I fought an army?" he asked and Haru nodded. James continued staring at him for a while till Haru realized what he did and said yes out loud.

"Hard to say honestly, all those aragami coming after you at once, trying to eat your head off… you tend to lose count after the fiftieth one".

"You defeated fifty aragami on your own?" repeated Mutsumi in shock

"Yeah but that's all in the past", said James

Haru was about to ask another question when he saw the door burst open and this time stood Alisa and another unfamiliar face.

"There you are", shouted Alisa and James let out a kiddish yelp then hid behind Kanon

"When you didn't show up for your morning check up", said Alisa stomping towards the man while Shio smiled awkwardly "I thought you were out causing more trouble but instead you're slacking off like a child over here".

"I wasn't slacking off, I was just catching up with the others", said James still hiding behind Kanon

"I swear James", she said rubbing her head "I didn't even hear you leave the room in the morning, you're like a ninja".

"Let's all gloss over a very important detail for everyone's sake", said James rising up "I'll go for my check up. You two stay where you are".

While James left, Shio turned to Alisa waiting for the girl to realize the bomb she just dropped. It was only when Alisa's face turned bright red causing Shio to promptly leave the room while her friend did her best to explain the situation.

James headed to the lounge, where he heard the familiar sound of someone furiously typing on the keyboard. Assuming the time right now, he quickly figured out who it would be causing him to slowly descend the stairs and say "You know if you keep working that hard Hibari, you're going to get wrinkles pretty early".

"I don't have time to indulge in our daily banter James", said Hibari and continued to type something on her computer then came to a halt. She raised her head up, turning to the direction of the voice.

"James", she shouted immediately dropping what she was doing to run over and embrace her friend. She continued the embrace for a while longer then pulled back, only now noticing the bandages over his eyes.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly touching the bandages.

"Cost of completing the mission", he replied

"A mission? Is that why you vanished for three years?"

"Yeah, pretty much", he replied moving back a little "The doc's going to call a meeting to officially announce my return to the branch where I'll tell you and everyone else the whole story".

"Wow," she said in amazement "Must have been one hell of a mission".

"It was, by the way what are you working on with such vigour?"

Damien got off the helicopter first, taking a deep breath of fresh air. He looked back to the others who were slowly getting off. They had run into a little turbulence on the way over and only Damien was unaffected by the trip.

"How…" said Gil leaning against the heli "How are you able to stand like that?"

"Oh come on guys, that little bump we had wasn't so bad".

"It was too", objected Nana "Let's not forget at one point Romeo was dangling on the side of the heli".

"Not something I want to do again," commented the teen.

"I think it would be ok if you go on ahead of us Damien", said Ciel who did her best to not show how affected she was.

"Alright if you say so", said Damien slowly turning back and making his way to the elevator. Once inside, he descended down to the lounge, all the while thinking about how things must have changed here if they did during his brief absence.

His smile quickly faded when the door opened and Damien saw who was standing on the opposite side. All of a sudden his fears and his memories came crashing together as the monster that was consigned to the past now stood before him.

Damien felt a white hot rage burning inside him as anger overtook logic and reasoning. Before he knew it, his right fist shot forward, aimed at the person before him.

"James", he yelled

AN: they finally meet oh I'm so excited for this.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Bad blood

From the moment he knew that he was 'different' from the rest James hated his gifts. Being stronger, faster and smarter than the rest was something that normally people would be happy to have but his gifts came at a price. This was why he never relied on them all that much.

But today was one of those days he was glad that he was different.

While chatting with Hibari, he was able to pick up the sound of the helicopter landing followed by some people getting off. Considering the sound of their footsteps and figuring out their weight, he was unable to recall anyone matching that description. He noticed one of the group separate and make their way to the elevator then head down.

When the person got off the elevator, James understood immediately. From the way his blood circulated the body to the sudden rise in heart beat and the fist that came his way, James figured out who his attacker was and was grateful that only someone with his evolved senses could have made the connection.

"Hello Damien", he said calmly while moving his left shoulder back to dodge the strike. Damien said nothing and attacked him with a leg sweep prompting James to leap back and land on the railing that overlooked the lounge.

"Get back here", roared Damien like a lion as he charged towards the target, not noticing that everyone from the lounge and the heli pad had arrived and were confused by the scene before them.

"Hey", said Gil with a worried look "You know what's going on here?"

"No clue", said Kanon with a shrug.

"Ah don't mind the two of us", said James with his hands behind his back while continuing to dodge all of the strikes from his opponent "We're just catching up".

Damien let out another yell and attacked with a swinging kick, prompting James to flip back and land on his hands while using his feet to push his opponent back. Damien came at him again with another leg sweep but James flipped up and over him, landing behind with his back turned.

Damien spun around and attacked with a fist but James turned around quickly then blocked it with his right hand. Damien attacked with another fist but James blocked that one as well. No matter how many times Damien attacked, James blocked all of them with no trouble at all.

James now leapt to the side, landing in the lower part of the lounge with Damien in pursuit. He attacked James with his back turned and he flipped back to dodge it. But when in the air, James quickly brought his knees down on his opponent. James buried his right knee in Damien's face and pulled his right arm back so that it was bending at an awkward angle.

"I understand that you want to catch up on a great many things James", he said while Damien struggled to break free "But now is not the time for that".

"James what is going on here?" cried out Alisa asking the question on everyone's minds.

"Well I'd like to tell you but first I need Damien here to promise me that he's not going to attack", said James to her then turned to the god eater he had disabled "Can you promise not to do that?"

Damien answered only in a growl but considering how quiet it was compared to how angry he was at the start, James decided to release his grip on the teen and waited till he got back to his feet. He noticed that everyone in the room were all wondering the same thing so he decided it was time to rip the bandage off.

"Damien and I are cousins that's how we know each other", he said casually while everyone (Damien included) all let out a loud cry of surprise at the bomb that was just dropped.

"But… but", said Kanon "How?"

"Yeah, you guys are related?" asked Haruomi

"I know it's a little difficult to understand seeing as I have the brains, the looks, the charm, the personality and all Damien got was the brawn and an 'inner beauty'".

Damien narrowed his eyes, nearly threatening to kill James with a look but it was a feat lost on the target due to obvious reasons.

"But that doesn't explain why you two never spoke about each other", said Ciel turning to Damien "I remember you saying that you only had a mother and father".

"That's because we never really did see much of each other", said Damien now going along with the lie seeing as the truth was simply too much for them "And whenever James and I did meet, we'd often challenge each other in who could be the best at something".

"And back then Damien always did manage to beat me at everything", interjected James "I imagine he's still a peak physical specimen even now right?"

"But to answer the question as to why none of us talked about each other", said Damien taking control of the conversation "We made a bet a long time ago that if we both got into Fenrir, neither of us would ever talk about the other. The reason being that if James was some top brass member of the company: then people would start treating me differently and stand on ceremonies and vice versa".

"The two of us wanted to reach the top on our own power and not because of anyone's help", he added.

"And you", said Alisa hitting James in the arm "You said you were an orphan".

"Technically I am", he cried out then rubbed the part of him that got hit "Mom and dad are dead, died in an aragami attack. I never maintained much contact with Damien or his family back then so when things got rough I applied to Fenrir without a second thought".

"Hmmm", said Haru "It makes sense when you think about it."

"But it also seems weird", added Hibari "Convenient even, like you have an answer for everything".

"Think so?" asked James questioningly

Picking up on what Hibari was implying Alisa asked "Damien, what's James' favourite food?"

"Anything on the plate", he replied with a shrug "This jackass has an appetite like a starved man but if I think about it, this guy likes steak more than anything else".

"And James", said Ciel "What does Damien do in his free time?"

"He mostly reads romance novels", replied James "But if he's not doing that then he's in the training room, winning his imaginary fights against me".

"Come on guys", said James turning to Hibari, Alisa and Kanon "A hard working god eater that gets along well with everyone? Didn't that ring a bell with any of you?"

"Well in my defence I was out on a mission with Haru at the time so I didn't really meet Damien", said Kanon innocently raising her hand up.

"Understandable", said James "But you two?"

"Well…" said Alisa looking a little hesitant

"Yes it is understandable that you have your doubts but the facts are that Damien and I are related, not by much but still", said James "So let's all move on from that and get back to our normal lives shall we?"

"Ah that reminds me", said Alisa grabbing James' arm "You still have to do your check up".

"Damn", said James snapping his finger "I was hoping she forgot about that".

"Check up?" asked Damien with an expression other than anger now on his face "What happened to you?"

"Caused a lot of trouble and paid for it", said James with his hands in his pocket and making his way to the other elevator.

Soon enough James got to the director's room and allowed the doctor to do the needful.

"Can I assume that you've met with the blood unit?" asked Sakaki while applying a new set of bandages all over James' body.

"Yes and it was an honest surprise to find my cousin among the group".

"Your cousin?" he asked and the look he got from James was answer enough.

"So what's the plan now doc?" he asked

"Licca told me about how badly damaged your god arc so I don't imagine you'll be returning to active duty anytime soon", replied the doctor "So for now you'll remain on standby and let your wounds heal up."

"Speaking of which, how is it your cellular regeneration isn't working like it should?"

"My cells need energy to perform the task", replied James "It's the same like normal cell regeneration only in my case the energy draw is significantly higher than normal. I normally gain that energy from eating regularly but seeing as resources were limited and aragami meat was a definite no go, I had to be careful".

After they were done Sakaki called for a meeting with all the staff and god eaters where he formally told everyone that James had returned. He explained that the reason he left was because he received a tip from a friend in Delhi about a very powerful god eater being seen in the North American Badlands.

Anyone who knew their history knew that when the aragami attacked, the Americas was hit hardest by the invasion, losing more than half the population in less than two days. Those that survived left immediately and the entire continent was abandoned, turning into a wasteland in less than a month.

James then continued the story saying that he left there without any hesitation and it took him nearly a year to find Shio whom he introduced at that point. He would go on to further state that Shio looked the way she did due to an accident that caused oracle cells to mingle with her blood while she was still a baby. Thanks to that, Shio was able to create a god arc using her own limbs and also possessed an incredible sense of skill with the weapon.

Once James met her, he did his best to try and convince her to come back with him but she refused on many occasions. It was only through spending a lot of time with her and eventually becoming her friend that Shio finally gave in and came with him.

Once the meeting was done, Shio headed to the director's office to talk a little longer and James saw Alisa waiting for him. When he came to her she stated that Damien had headed to the helipad and was waiting for him. He explained to the girl that he was not going to fight but instead they were only going to talk.

"James," she said before he stepped through "I know we didn't ask the most obvious of the questions but, why did Damien attack you?"

She watched her boyfriend remain silent for a while before answering "Damien and I… never parted on good terms, let's leave it at that for now".

Alisa knew there was more to the story than that but she did not want to ask anything else. She watched James leave the room then sat on the sofa behind her, waiting for him to return.

"You know this is quite an ominous setting to have a chat", said James getting off the elevator to Damien who had his back turned "We are only here to have a chat right?"

"Yeah", said Damien letting out a sigh "It's just that… seeing you, brought back all those memories at once".

"So I'm not the only one haunted by that night", said James casually then strolled towards his cousin "You know I was honestly hoping that you weren't at all affected. So now that you're feeling better.."

"Better is putting it mildly", said Damien "I still blame you for what happened on that night."

"You abandoned Helen, Reiss, Felicia and Michel".

"In the moment I had a decision to make, either save them and risk both our lives or lose them and save our lives", said James "Back then I never cared about living at all, I wanted to die but with what they did to me it was damn near impossible to kick the bucket".

"But you cousin, you and the others were still yourselves, something I took great pains to ensure. The decision I made back then is one I will always be haunted by but here's the thing, it's something I'd do again if it meant you got to survive?"

Damien was troubled by that statement but did not want to remain silent "When we got to the Fenrir facility, I said I didn't want to see you again but the truth is I was lying".

"We may not be blood but due to everything that's happened we are family", he said looking at James and slowly walking towards him "And I want it to stay that way so if you're up for it, I'd like us to start off on a clean slate".

James could tell that he was extending his hand out and he returned the gesture. The two of them shook hands and that was that. They both agreed that now was not the time to talk given everything that happened.

"By the way", said James to Alisa when they were in his room "There is something important I want to show you".

"Wait a second", said Shio getting up from the sofa "You sure you want to do that James?"

"Of course", he said without hesitation "It's important she knows".

"Knows about…" but the rest of the words did not come out as she saw James take off his jacket answering the question she had on her mind.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

AN: so they're related but not related… and James killed some people? Ohhh so many questions and so many answers

Unforgiving reality

The day started off with some supposedly good news. A singer by the name of Yuno Ashira had arrived at the far east branch to visit some of the victims from the red rain. While the arrival of the pop star was not a cause for concern for two people in particular, there was one who had taken the news better than most.

Romeo had been drifting on cloud 9 since her arrival and had managed to make himself Yuno's tour guide for the trip. Though Damien and James were their initial choices for Dr. Sakaki, one was completely blind while the other had no real interest in the girl which meant neither of them were options.

"A rocket to the moon, a fight with a whole planet… all to rescue a single girl?" asked Damien to James in the training room after they finished a three hour long sparring session.

"Told you the truth was too crazy for words", said James getting up and helping Damien up as well.

"Between the two of us though, why'd you do it? I mean I know you and Alisa are an item so romance is definitely not the option here".

"Because I like causing trouble that's all… by the way when did you find out about Alisa?"

"It was pretty obvious she had an interest in you the second I saw her", replied Damien walking towards the exit "In fact if you two didn't start dating I'd have tossed you off the helipad".

"Not cool", said the cousin standing in his spot looking scared despite having half his face hidden.

"By the way", added Damien "What's the deal with this Yuno girl? Is she some really good singer?"

"Hell if I know", replied James with a shrug "Let's not forget I missed out on a lot of things while I was causing trouble on the moon".

"Good morning James", said Shio with a yawn then rested her head on James' chest.

"Still not all there are you?" asked her head rest

"Her huh?" said Damien examining Shio "And she used to be the trigger for the apocalypse?"

"Yep, she's incredibly strong trust me, if you think she's tough now when she gets as old as us she's going to beat both of us blindfolded".

"Ah by the way", said Shio snapping to attention then turning to Damien "If James and I are related, does that mean…"

"Yep, he's also your cousin as well", said James "Although he looks like Damien has a stick up his ass at all times trust me he's good people".

"Damn you", shouted Damien but was tackled to the ground by Shio who started hugging him tightly.

"You know I never had any family and then I had a brother and now a cousin", she said cheerily "Wow today's a good day".

"You know that blood doesn't necessarily make you family right? Sometimes bonds are enough to do the job", said James not helping out at all

"I know but it's still a bonus", said Shio finally releasing Damien who slowly got up with a shocked look on his face.

"What is it?" she asked with her head tilting to the side

"You're…. strong", he replied then turned to Ciel and Julius who were coming towards them.

"Damien I figured we might find you here", said Julius "Hope we're not bothering you two".

"The only one that's a bother here is this guy", said Damien pointing his thumb out to James who remarked "Don't worry that's just how he says he cares. In case you don't know it, Damien has the personality of a cactus."

"Only to you", commented Damien with a glum expression "By the way, what's the matter?"

"Mission and it's a pretty important one", said Julius "We might have a lead on the Marduk so we're deploying right now to go and investigate".

"Go ahead I'm benched for the future", said James nodding to the others and Damien quickly joined his team.

The team of Ciel, Gil, Romeo and Damien finished their mission without much trouble, after all defending a transport from some ogretails was not much of a problem to them at all.

While heading back to the lounge in the far east, Damien noticed Romeo standing in his spot for a while, looking like there was something weighing heavily on his mind.

"Dude, what's wrong?" he asked

Seemingly noticing what he was doing, Romeo immediately perished the thoughts from his mind and resumed his earlier demeanour with the reply "Ah its nothing buddy. We should see if there are any other missions out there".

"What?" asked Gil looking visibly surprised "I know that last one was a cakewalk and everything but we need to pace ourselves".

"Pacing is for old people", he said with a grin "I have to work hard and get stronger so I can awaken my blood powers too".

'So that's what it was', thought Damien then spoke "Listen Romeo, blood powers don't activate just because you get physically strong".

"Huh?"

"There's no sure fire way of triggering your powers Romeo", said Damien "Our circumstances were different and our mindsets were all different too"

"But you guys were all fighting aragami at the time", said Romeo "So that just means that if we keep going on missions then there has to be one point where my powers will awaken too".

"All the more reason why we should pace ourselves", said Gil "Let's not forget that we also have to take care of Psion's and a dozen other things as well. What happens if we're too tired out to face a Psion because we're all busy going on missions with you?"

"Fine then don't go with me", said Romeo raising his voice a little "Damien will help me".

"Come on buddy", said Romeo to Damien "We still have plenty of things to do".

He tried pulling Damien forward with him, but the teen remained in his spot.

"I'm sorry Romeo but he's right", said Damien causing the teen pulling him to stop.

"Look it's not like we're giving up on you or anything", he said trying to justify his reasons "It's just that we have other priorities that are more important".

"And what? I don't matter?" he snapped "You all think that just because your powers woke up earlier means you can look down on me?"

"Romeo", cried Ciel reaching out to stop him but he slapped her hand away.

"You know I was the second person to join blood, I'm a senior compared to you all so it should have been me that got his powers first not any of you".

"I should have…" but the rest could not be said thanks to a fist from Gil that knocked him into the ground.

"Would you get out of your own ass already?" shouted the veteran "You think this is some game where you gain something by getting powers before the others? You know I've been tolerant of this guy for long enough but no more".

"Romeo all you do is act like a spoiled teenager and if it were left up to me you'd be out on your ass."

"Take that back", said Romeo slowly getting to his feet "I'm not some brat and I do take things seriously".

Romeo glared at Gil who knew what was coming next. The teenager charged towards Gil, ready to beat him to a pulp but before he could reach his target, his footing gave way and before he knew it he was tossed hard into the wall. When he looked up he saw Damien staring at him with an expressionless look.

"You", he said to Romeo then turned to Gil "And you. I want you both to head back to your rooms and take a breather. Whatever problems you have with each other, you work it out, till then consider yourselves benched".

"Tch screw this", hissed Romeo heading away from the lounge.

Gil instead said nothing and headed to the lounge, leaving only Ciel and Damien. The two of them did not say anything till they reached the lounge where they saw James coming towards them looking concerned.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own Bandai Namco's character in the god arc world. I do however own original characters.

Hand of fate

"So he's feeling left out because everyone else got their powers", said Alisa with a worried expression reading a book while James rested his head on her legs and Shio listened to some music on the couch.

"Unfortunately he's going about it all wrong", said James "It's like Damien said, getting physically strong is not going to be enough. It's something else, something psychological that the others have".

"But have you thought about it from his side?" she asked and James rose up, looking at her to continue.

"He's been on the team much longer than you all have and his powers never showed up. Then comes the new guy and he gets his powers, after that another new guy and he gets his powers too and so on".

"He's probably starting to question his place in the team and is scared that eventually Julius or Damien might have to ask him to leave", she added.

"Then the most important thing that he should do is talk about it with the others instead of internalizing, by the way what are you reading?"

"Just a romance novel", said the girl burying her face into the book.

"Shio", he called out and the girl peered closely at the title then said "Everything we know about oracle cells and their behaviour".

"Didn't I tell you not to worry about things like that", he said snatching the book from her.

"And didn't I tell you that I wasn't going to let anything happen to you".

"Nothing is going to happen to me".

"How can you be so sure? What if one day the worst case scenario happens?"

"Shio and I talked about that", he replied calmly which was not welcome news to the girl.

"Well in order to stop that from happening I'm doing everything I can to return you to normal".

"You're such a loving girlfriend", he said playfully turning around and burying his face in her stomach, making her blush.

James wanted to take things a little further but the trio heard a knock on the door. Shio was the first to reply allowing Damien to come in.

"Sorry am I interrupting something?" he asked quickly reading the mood.

"Relax cousin", said James rising up and gesturing for him to take a seat near the bed. Still feeling a little hesitant, Damien cautiously sat on one of the chairs. It did not take long for him to say what was on his mind which was the incident earlier about Romeo.

He went on to say that things had gotten worse with Romeo vanishing. Damien of course explained that there was a team looking for the teen but had stated that none of them had any promising leads.

"Want to go out and launch an investigation on your own?" asked James "I may not have my sight but trust me, I'm one hell of a tracker".

"Its true", said Shio "When I was helping him back to the ship, he was able to find its location thanks to the smell of some soap".

"Thanks but we have a big mission tomorrow", said Damien "It's a massive evac operation in the lower east side of the ghettos."

"Yeah I heard about that", said Alisa "Cradle's will be supervising the move while Blood unit will provide on-site defence."

"The reason we're being called in is because scouts have reported seeing a white coloured aragami in the area which we've called the Marduk. Long story short but that hounds been causing blood some problems now so the faster we take care of it the better".

"Shio, how about you team up with Cradle and help them out", suggested James "It'll be a nice change of pace compared to sitting here all day doing nothing".

"I have no problem with it", said Alisa with a shrug "In fact the more hands the better".

"Thanks for letting me stay here for a while ma'am", said Romeo with a smile to the old lady who served him some soup while the old man continued the conversation.

"So you had a little argument with your friend?" he asked and Romeo nodded.

"Well I know it's not my place or anything", he began "But you don't seem like the type that carries grudges for long so don't you think that you should be heading back and making amends?"

"Yeah I should…" said Romeo slumping down a little

"Oh now don't pester the boy", said the old lady, gently tapping her husband on the shoulder "You can stay here as long as you like dear".

"Thanks", he said "And I promise tomorrow I'll go and apologize to them".

"Fair warning", said Julius by Hibari's side "We're seeing red clouds starting to form in the area so time is of the essence".

"Got it", said Damien facing the garam while Ciel faced the fish and Nana and Gil faced the Chi- You.

"No more holding back", he shouted landing a deep wound on the garam's left paw "Everyone activate blood powers now".

With a nod all three were engulfed in an aura of red energy. In that moment, the aragami turned to Nana all making a beeline to her. This allowed Gil and Damien to come in close and with a swing from both their blades, they lopped off the wings from the bird allowing Nana to leap up and crush the Chi-You using her hammer in a single strike.

The fish and Garam stood side by side, firing a barrage of fire and water based projectiles at their enemy but Damien sliced through them all, creating an opening for the trio behind him. Gil and Ciel switched to gun mode, firing their own barrage while Nana leapt up and came down on their location, forcing the pair to break up.

Damien swung his sword out, sending a wide arc of red energy towards the fish, cutting its cannon in half. The fish looked enraged and flung itself forward as it tried to clamp its giant mouth on Damien but the god eater would never let himself get caught that easily. He leapt back just as it's took a bite of air then channelled energy into his god arc and darted forward, his sword hitting the aragami right at the centre of its head and emerging out the back. If that wasn't enough Damien swung his sword out in an arc, separating it from the aragami and watching it slink lifelessly to the ground.

"James watch out", shouted Gil but he did not react in time and paid for it as the fireball from the garam hit him in the chest, knocking him back a good distance. Damien of course was never one to give up and quickly got to his feet and fired a few shots at the aragami.

The garam swung out at all the god eaters near it but they moved aside. Damien leapt over the attack, landing on its back and thrusting his sword inside. The garam let out a fierce cry of pain then tried to shake Damien off. The god eater dislodged his sword, letting the garam toss him into the air, then switched to gun mode and fired a merciless barrage upon the target.

The garam was now heavily wounded and was looking for a way out. It tried to make a break for it aiming for the small opening on the left side only to get hit in the face by Nana, forcing it back a good distance. Gil shoved his spear into one of its feet and Ciel rammed her sword into the other paw, immobilizing the aragami.

Damien held his sword high up, the god arc completely engulfing it in red energy. The aragami struggled more and more to try and break free but its fate was sealed. With one definitive swing of the sword, Damien released a massive wave of energy aimed at the garam and cleaved it in two. The part on the left fell down first while the right half stood upright for a little longer before falling down as well.

Rather than take a moment to breathe a little, Damien noticed the clouds forming and immediately gestured for the team to head back. They got onto the helicopter and reached the base just as the rain started to pour.

Sitting quietly in her room, tapping on her keyboard and watching the evacuation efforts underway, Rachel smiled to herself. Then she typed something onto the keyboard, causing one of the barriers to power down, allowing the Garam to enter into the ghettos.

"Julius we've evacuated everyone where the hell are the recon troops?" asked Damien to the captain

"They got in half an hour ago but none of them reported signs of Romeo", he said taking his god arc out and heading to the elevator.

"The hell are you doing?" asked Damien on seeing this.

"Stay where you are, I'm going to go and find Romeo", he replied and put on a rain coat.

"But.."

"That's an order", barked Julius before the elevator closed.

"My Julius", said Rachel speaking to him like a mother would sans the love and affection "You are my gift to the world, my child. You are a pure soul, one that seeks to save every human on the planet, no matter how hard the task may be".

Romeo was knocked back far by the Marduk. Julius arrived and invoked his blood power, boosting their overall powers. The two of them stood together, Romeo doing this best to hide the tears in his rain coat.

The two of them charged but the aragami roared a fierce roar, causing the two of them to get pushed back.

"But this is a cruel world, a world that demands the most from all and gives nothing in return", she continued.

The Marduk leapt and fired two close range fireballs at the god eaters who blocked but the aragami was ready for this. It quickly swiped to the right with its fierce claws, knocking them both back.

"In order for you to become the beacon that I wish you to be"

Romeo let out a fierce yell and charged the aragami swinging his buster sword but it charged forward, then leapt up when close enough and fired at Romeo from on high. If that was not enough, the aragami landed soon after and used its back legs to kick Romeo right in the chest, breaking a few bones and sending him crashing into an empty building.

"In order for you to be the hero of this fair story, you must understand the pain of loss".

"Romeo", cried Julius firing shot after shot at the aragami but it leapt back to avoid them. Julius tried attacking it but the combination of the rain and the quickness of the aragami made it impossible for him to land a hit.

Instead of attacking him however, the Marduk seemingly lost interest in the fight and jumped back a good distance. Julius shouted at the aragami but his words and noise fell on deaf ears. It took a few steps forward then broke into a run and before too long, it vanished.

"You must understand what it is to lose those close to you"

Julius headed to where Romeo was. The leader of the blood unit pulled the teenager out of the mangled heap of concrete and metal then began calling his name out and shaking him, trying to wake him up.

"It is only when this pain has deeply engraved itself in your heart will you be able to grow and become stronger".

"Romeo, please wake up", said Julius nearly on the verge of tears doing everything he could to wake the teenager up but got no response.

"So let this be my lesson to you dear Julius", she said content with how things played out.

Feeling that there was no longer any pulse coming, Julius buried his head in Romeo's chest letting out a fierce cry of defiance against god, fate and the other divine forces for taking the life of his friend.

AN: well this will be it for a while guys, Christmas is coming and I plan on 100 percenting the .hack trilogy now that its on steam so wish you all a merry xmas and happy new year.


	20. Chapter 20

AN: sorry for not posting sooner, had a rough bit of things going on my side so I had to be offline for a while but now things have hopefully stabilized so I can continue

Fractured team

The news came like a sucker punch to the face. Damien and Gil were the first to see Julius come back to the shelter, carrying the lifeless body of his fallen comrade. The two could not find the words or voice their grief at the sight before them.

After that the news spread and before anyone knew it, the blood team were back in the garden on Friar, where they buried Romeo. Besides the blood unit, there were a few soldiers that personally knew Romeo as well as some of the god eaters from the far east branch had come to pay their respects. It was at this time that Damien briefly met and spoke to the girl Yuno Ashihara. She seemed like a pretty nice person, not at all how Damien imagined a pop star would be but, that was not what was important to him right now.

After most of the people had left, the only ones that remained were the blood unit. Then after that Gil and Nana left, with only Damien, Ciel and Julius being the last ones left.

"Julius", said Ciel with concern in her voice as she reached out to the leader but he abruptly turned around and silently marched away from the gravestone.

Unable to find the words or imagine how to cope with the loss, the team was thrown for another whirlwind when they found that Julius would be focused solely on the god arc soldier project and would require many, if not all members of the friar base to support him.

What this meant was that while the Blood unit would still have to continue their job of dispatching aragami, they would be transferred to the far east branch until further notice.

Sensing that this was a tough time for the five, everyone at the branch did their best to make the transition as seamless as possible. Dr. Sakaki also stated that the team would have three days of time allowing them to acclimatize to their new surroundings.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a cause for celebration to Damien but it came at the cost of two of his closest friends. He also noted that among the crowd that were there when he returned, his cousin was nowhere to be found. It made sense considering that right now was the time for mourning.

After they all got to their new rooms, most of the team were in the lobby talking to Yuno about the benefit concert she wanted to hold for the people in the Ghetto's. Damien however found himself taking an elevator to the top of the base where the helicopters would normally take the troops out to their designated mission.

It was here he found James sitting idly with his legs dangling on the edge. As if sensing his presence, the older one tilted his head back to silently greet his cousin then raised a bottle of whiskey, inviting him to have a seat.

Not really in the mood for anything else, Damien took his cousin up on the offer and the two took a sip of the bottle before coughing furiously as the liquid rolled down their throats, producing an intense heat in the process.

"Damn, I heard this stuff is potent but never knew it was this bad", said Damien panting while lying on his back.

"Sorry about that", said James keeping the bottle aside as neither of them wanted to relive that experience "I thought that it was pretty strong, never knew it was **that** strong".

The two laughed a little more before silence fell on them like a thin blanket. Damien was the first to break the quiet of the night, recalling how he felt when they abandoned their friends in order to live. He talked about how he promised himself not to lose anyone else and how he trained himself everyday to keep that promise.

"What about you?" he asked to James "I know you never went to any Delhi branch so out with it".

"Besides the gang, the only other person that I knew who died was Eric", he said after thinking to himself.

"Seriously?" asked Damien in surprise "But that team I heard you were running around with… none of them are dead?"

"Most of them are, but that was due to old age", he replied. James understood what Damien was implying. Considering the team that he used to work with and the severity of the missions they undertook back in the days before he joined the far east were tantamount to suicide missions.

"How'd they survive all those missions?"

"Mostly because they're monsters", he replied in a matter of fact way "Even by my standards, they're insanely strong. Plus some of my 'talents' did prove helpful in many of the missions"

"So that Eric guy, how'd you cope with it?"

"Same thing as you're doing right now, internalize it, blame it on myself and train like a mad man for the next few days."

"Nothing wrong with that plan mind you but try not to go too deep like I did. And try to remember something important as well".

"Which is?"

"You're not the only one hurting", was the reply.

Over the course of the next few days, Damien would spend his free time talking to the others about how they felt over Romeo's death and offered whatever consolation he could in the hopes that it would help them move on from this stage of grief. Gil of course proved to be the hardest of the group considering how he and Romeo parted but with a lot of patience and persistence, Damien got him to open up.

After a few days had gone Damien had assembled the team back in the lounge and took a moment to examine their faces. Noticing the marked change in their expressions, he knew that now would be the time for them to move forward.

With that in mind, he turned to Hibari and queued up a couple of missions before finally selecting one so that they could go back to doing what they did best.

"Any particular reason why you needed to see me Doc?" asked James sitting on the chair while Dr. Sakaki hummed to himself, seemingly focused on whatever he was viewing on the monitor.

The doctor quickly shifted attention to James and said "I've been looking at your progress and can safely say that you'll be able to remove your bandages by tomorrow, which is a good thing".

Ignoring the fact that he'd have his vision restored by tomorrow, James honed in on the other point and asked "Why is that a good thing?"

"Because Dr. Rachel and her sister will be visiting our branch the day after to discuss some interesting facts we learned about the Psions and I'd like for you to be there too".

"You don't trust them?"

"Not one bit", said the doctor with his expression shifting dramatically from calm to serious.


	21. Chapter 21

Meetings

Despite being told that he would be part of the meeting, Sakaki requested that James hide his presence for the duration of the meeting as he believed that Rachel would be on guard if he was around.

This was not a problem for the god eater who managed to find a slot in the ceiling and climb into. Sakaki momentarily pondered about asking about how James knew to do that but decided against it. Once he settled into his position the doctor waited silently for Rachel and her sister to arrive.

Once they arrived, James pressed his ears to the false bottom he lay on and listened closely to the conversation, not the words itself but the way in which it was said. Throughout the entirety of the meeting, Rachel projected herself as a dilligent worker and researcher as well as a loving and thoughtful mother who only wanted what was best for her children which was the blood unit.

He detected a hint of animosity towards Damien when Sakaki brought up how the youth had improved the group's efforts as a whole since his arrival. He wondered if Sakaki caught onto this but his attention was now focused on the latest discovery that Sakaki had found.

Though he never stated who did the research (implying Shio), Sakaki stated that the Psions are in fact a mutation of existing aragami and not completely new types. By examining their oracle cell structure, the scientists at the far east were able to understand these mutations occur when certain aragami come into contact with the red rain.

Types like the Garam, the Gboro and Chi You only became more dangerous after their exposure to the red rain phenomenon.

The talk went further on to how they would try and gain more samples of the rain in an attempt to understand its nature a little better as well as provide an origin for it. When they were done, the sisters thanked the doctor for agreeing to meet them then left. The doctor waited in silence for five minutes till one of the roof tiles moved aside, allowing James to softly re-enter the room.

The boy turned to Sakaki for a moment, then turned back to the door and said "I don't trust her, not one bit".

"What makes you so sure?"

"Call it instinct", he replied.

"Then would you be interested in conducting an off the books investigation on Rachel and Leah?"

"Coz it went so well for the last guy", he commented sarcastically and the doctor let out a wry chuckle.

"This time you'll have my help as well as full access to the resources of the far east".

James nearly voiced his objection again but stopped when he heard the door open. Based on how fast the footsteps were coming towards him and the size of the arms that immediately embraced him upon contact, he knew it to be Shio.

"Something the matter?" he asked sounding concerned

"I met this really scary girl", said Shio with her head lowered.

"Was she in a wheelchair?" asked the doctor and she nodded.

"I can't understand why, she looked totally harmless and I could take her in a fight no sweat but when I walked by her, I felt this chill running down my spine".

"Well that's enough of an answer for me", said James "I'll even bet that she had something to do with the malfunction Julius faced."

Shio seemed confused at the statement and Jams simply stated that it was best she did not know what the two old men were talking about.

After finishing maintenance work and delegating the remainder of her tasks to the others in Cradle, Alisa came back to the base just in time to see Shio happily skip towards the elevator before her. When asked about the reason why she was cheery, the girl replied that today was the day they were finally taking off the bandages on James' eyes.

Alisa joined Shio and together the two headed to the medical room, surprised to see Lindow, Soma and Kota there as well.

"Well we are his friends", said Kota with a big grin "It's only right we be there".

Sakaki undid the knot on the back of James' head then proceeded to slowly unravel the bandages that covered nearly half of his head. When he removed the last piece that covered his eyes, the group breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his closed eyelids. It meant that the wounds were fully healed.

The doctor removed the last bit of cloth and James almost nearly opened his eyes but all of a sudden the lights in the room went off. Everyone was momentarily caught off by this but Sakaki assured them there was nothing to worry about.

As he said, the lights came back on followed by James slowly opening his eyes and taking in his new surroundings.

"Whoa", he said shielding himself from the bright lights of the room but lowered his hand as he slowly got used to it.

"James?" asked Kota

"Wow dude", said his friend smiling to him "You look a lot cooler than I remember".

"And you too Lindow", he said looking to the veteran "Damn you look cool".

Lindow gave off a light chuckle at the statement then rubbed the back of his head.

Alisa drew closer to James who only now noticed she was there, given by how surprised he looked after seeing her.

"Holy hell", he said blinking a couple of times.

"What?" she asked

"You…. just look…. Wow you look pretty",

"James", she said her face turning beet red followed by her hitting him in the arm in retaliation.

"What?" he said rubbing the part that got hit, "I wasn't lying or anything".

"Hey James, you up for another tour of the place?" asked Kota and the boy in question nodded.

"Ah he's going to have to wait a little longer", said Sakaki preventing James from nearly leaping off the bed "I still need to run a few more tests on him, to make sure that his eyes are functioning properly".

"Alright", said Soma "When you're done with that, come meet us in the cafeteria and we'll take you on another tour".

Sakaki, Shio and James watched the team leave then saw the door close.

"You think they're suspicious of the blackout?" asked Shio

"Doubtful", said James removing the red lens over his eyes then looked at Shio for a moment.

"How do you feel? All systems functional?"

While the trio discussed what they planned on doing for the next couple of days, Damien and his team had finished their mission. The others headed to their rooms to rest a little while the interim leader made his way to the cafeteria. There he met with Lindow, Soma and Kota who told him about what happened.

"There is something else I'd like your help with Damien", said Lindow

"Sure, if you think I can help you out with something then I'm all ears", said the teen with a shrug.

AN: we're setting things up for the nine tails storyline. There will be a few side stories happening as well


	22. Chapter 22

New Fang

Alisa groaned a little then slowly rose up before stretching her arms out as wide as possible. She instinctively reached out with her right hand but only touched air. Confused by this, she blinked a couple of times, wiped away the sleepiness that persisted then noticed that she was the only one on the bed. The girl scanned the room then calmed down when she saw James sitting on the sofa with Shio resting beside him.

She now remembered that sometime late last night, Shio suddenly had a nightmare about the closing moments between Nova and James. She recalled how brutally beaten he was and instead of letting her continue, he simply calmed her down then stayed beside her for the rest of the night.

Alisa took this moment to stare at James somemore, her mind filled with a great many questions. Even now she wondered how his campaign against a small planet was able to last as long as it did, more so how he managed to bring about a victory against such odds was an even greater question.

"Mmmmm…. Alisa's hair smells nice", he muttered in his sleep causing the girl to take a few steps back in surprise.

Realising that he was dreaming about her, she calmed down a little then wondered if she could perhaps use this to her advantage. That idea however was quashed when she saw him slowly stirring, greeting her with a half awake smile.

"Had any good dreams?" she asked sitting beside him

"Hard to tell, it's still a hazy blur at the moment".

"Maybe you had a dream about a certain someone special", she suggested. Alisa carefully watched him try to scan his mind in an effort to recall his dreams. It was then his eyes opened wide in surprise, followed by a familiar tinge or red forming on his cheeks.

"Well then", she said digging him with her elbow in an effort to spur him on "Did you remember something?"

"Ummm…. Nope, nothing comes to mind", he said with a slightly raised voice then shot up like a bullet and headed to the fridge, purposely hiding his face behind the door. Alisa chuckled to herself as this was one of those rare moments where she gets the upper hand on her boyfriend.

"So," he said in a desperate effort to change the subject "Another busy day?"

"Probably," she said willingly taking the bait "We're chasing a lead on this really rare type of aragami so Lindow, Soma and I will be going to a lot of places today".

"Any idea on what type of aragami it is?"

"Not really, the only thing we know is that it has four legs which doesn't really narrow things down. The reason we're chasing this is because this aragami has something called retro oracle cells. Soma says that if we can get a sample or even defeat and analyze it's body and utilize the cells, it'd be a huge step forward for our security and helping build better houses for everyone in the ghettos".

"Wow sounds heavy", he said handing her a bottle of ice tea while he drank water.

"So after I have breakfast, I'll probably be out for the whole day", she said then sighed "Guess that means we won't get much time to spend together".

"Then I guess that means we'll have to make do with right now", countered James who proceeded to kiss her on the side of her neck.

Damien sat through the whole briefing, taking down a few notes while Lindow explained their mission for today. Soma and Alisa were to head to the ruined city to search for clues while Lindow and him were going to the sunken carrier. At the moment they had no idea what type of aragami they'd be facing so he stressed on how important it is that he keep his calm no matter how much the situation changes.

Once the briefing was done, the trio headed to the main elevator and were quickly joined by Alisa. She took a moment to fix her hair before placing the beret on her head and headed to the helicopter.

James found himself somewhat lucky that Sakuya was coming to the base. Seeing as Shio was busy helping out with more research, he took this opportunity to hang out with his old friend.

"Sorry I couldn't bring Ren with me", she said apologetically to James while they sat on the sofa in the lounge "Tsubaki wanted to take care of him for the day and I really didn't want to say no".

"You sure about Tsubaki though? I mean she can be a little…."

"You'd be surprised at how maternal she's become".

"That's a troubling though", he muttered trying to imagine his former boss in a less strict light and failed terribly at the task.

"So how are things going with you?" she asked

"Well now that I got my sight back, all that's really left to do is find a third member for my team".

"What team?"

"Dr. Sakaki gave me permission to form my own team a while back", he said casually "Seeing as everyone else is part of their own team, I don't think its fair asking them to come with Shio and I on missions".

"But there's a very obvious problem though", said the veteran "As you said, everyone has their own team which means there's no one around that could join your team".

"Ah don't worry about it all that much, I'll figure something out."

"I'm amazed at how casual you are to all this", remarked Sakuya then heard the emergency sound echoing throughout the room.

Quickly springing to action, James found from Hibari that his god arc was malfunctioning during maintenance and was now releasing reservoirs of oracle energy.

The duo headed to the lower rooms where they found Licca furiously typing on a keyboard in an effort to reduce the size of the large sphere of energy that formed in the storage room.

"Holy hell", said Sakuya while James went towards Licca.

"Any luck?" he asked and she shook her head in response.

"All of a sudden the god arc started acting crazy for no reason. I'm trying to shut it down but the controls are fried", she said just as the computer started to spark. James immediately grabbed Licca then leapt aside to avoid being hit by the small explosion that came from the computer.

"Damn it", shouted Licca getting to her feet "WIth that com gone, we have no way of stopping the god arc".

"Open the door and let me go inside", he said surprising both Licca and Sakuya

"Are you crazy James?" shouted Sakuya "There's no telling what's going on there, you might agitate the thing and make it worse".

"No, I know what's wrong with the god arc. It just woke up".

The two were confused by the statement but that did not matter as he opened the door and headed into the storage room before either of them could voice their protests.

"Hey there old friend", said James clenching his right fist, enveloping them both in a resonance aura "I'll bet you must have been shocked when you woke up to see how things have changed".

His progress however was impeded when the large orb shot out a wave of energy that hit him right in the chest and sent him tumbling into the ground. James did not let it get to him and quickly got back up to proceed his march.

"I know you must be scared right now and you have every right to be", he said reforming the resonance "The last few days we spent on the moon was a pure hell. All that fighting and death, all that craziness going on; yeah I get it but we're not there anymore. We're home now, we're safe so please calm down".

"You know me", he added, getting closer to the sphere "You're the reason why I survived for three years. So please listen to my voice when I tell you to calm down".

Licca and Sakuya watched in surprise as the large sphere of oracle energy began to subside but were once again shouted in surprise when they saw James stick his hand into the sphere for a moment before pulling out his spear.

Compared to before, the look of his weapon had changed dramatically. It no longer had a provision for the shield or the gun part, instead it looked like a traditional spear. The shaft itself was slightly smaller than normal spears allowing the blade itself to be much larger. The shaft was coloured a bright gold with dark maroon accents all around. The blade on the spear was coloured silver with two protrusions on either side and had a few maroon lines.

James twirled the spear around, getting used to its new form before pointing it at one of the walls. Though it looked a lot lighter compared to before, he could feel a tremendous amount of power brimming just beneath the surface.

"Welcome back to the fray old friend", he muttered to the spear eager to test out its capabilities.


	23. Chapter 23

A rare find

There was no question that once he obtained his new weapon, James was eager to go out into the field and start hunting. But the weapon was completely different from all other god arcs so it would need to be fully analyzed and experimented on for a little while till it could be cleared.

This however did not stop James from nearly shouting from the rooftops that he was only a step away from going back to work which was good news indeed for someone of his characteristics.

Damien was busy dealing with more and more things piling up on him as days went by. Besides his regular missions with Blood, he went on recon missions with Cradle, helped out in the day to day running of the base as well as go out on a few training missions with the first unit. While these tasks all proved doable to the teenager, lately there was one issue that troubled him greatly which was why he stood at the helicopter pad, late in the evening with James beside him. After returning to base to find his cousin in a state of reverie, Damien yanked James into reality and took him to the helipad to discuss what was troubling him.

"You're in love", said James flatly in a way that caused Damien's mouth to nearly fall to the floor.

"Is that it?" he nearly shouted, unable to control his voice. James simply nodded in agreement to the question.

"How do you know it so well?" he asked next

"The nervous feeling, the sweaty palms… I was like that for a while with Alisa", he replied drinking some juice and opening a bag of chips.

"Really? So what did you do?"

"Well it's best not to go by my example because I dove myself into work while secretly planning on how to rescue Shio", was the answer James gave, causing Damien to glare at him in response.

"I don't really have much in the way of overarching problems like you".

"You say that like it's a bad thing".

"The point I am trying to make here is that I have no way to ignore those feelings"

"Why would you want to do that?" asked James in surprise but Damien remained hesitant to answer.

"Ah, don't tell me it's because of your past?" he asked again and Damien nodded.

"Have you told Alisa?" he asked looking at the setting sun.

"God no", he replied shaking his head "I don't imagine any relationship lasting when one person was 'the most prolific pre-teen killer out there'".

"They actually called you that?" asked Damien with eyes wide open

"Not the team, but my supervisor in charge of us did once by accident. Never knew what happened to him after that… but I digress. There's a reason you shouldn't try and follow the same things I did Damien."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"I'm not human, you are", he replied calmly "You were the only one to make it out of there with your sanity and humanity still in tact. You still see hope in the world and believe that things get better. So when you fall in love with someone, the first thing you do is tell them how you feel, who knows, she might feel the same way."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then I know where Lindow keeps his super secret whiskey stash. Basically what I'm trying to tell you is don't sit on your thumbs or throw yourself into work like I did. The fact that Alisa and I are together is something I never would have imagined happening in my wildest fantasies".

"James…" said Damien but chose not to say what's on his mind. Instead he asked "But now that you're together?"

"It's the best damn thing in the world", he said lowering his head and hiding the light flush on his cheeks.

"You're right cousin", said Damien with a knowing nod "In the end I have to stop being so hesitant and tell her".

"Tell who what?" came another voice causing the two to look in the direction of the elevator. They saw Ciel walking towards them and given how nervous Damien suddenly became, James quickly put one and one together.

"He's got this wild idea about how to track down this aragami Cradle's been chasing but is too nervous to speak to Alisa", replied James hijacking the story.

"Then why not tell it to Lindow?" she asked looking confused.

"Because the plan is so crazy that Lindow might think Damien's weird and that'd just crush his spirits", he replied and Damien's eyes widened in horror as he stared malicious daggers at James.

"It is unfortunate but Damien suffers from a severe case of hero worship with Lindow", he added which only made things worse for his cousin.

"If that's the case then it's best you speak to Alisa as quickly as possible Damien", said Ciel turning to him "IF your plan is possible then it becomes all the more important you inform the others about it".

Damien said nothing in the end. All he did was quietly get up and drag James back into the base.

"As you all know the God arcs work by absorbing the core of the aragami it kills, thus enabling it to become stronger", said Sakaki to the group of James, Shio, Alisa and Damien.

"The much stronger the aragami, the better the cores which translates to a much stronger god arc. Which is why James' is considered an anomaly".

He pressed a button causing the image on the screen behind him to change, now showing the new god arc.

"Because it has eaten the cores of countless aragami over the course of three years, it has undergone a very drastic mutation. Though it may look like a normal spear, the density of oracle cells within is at least five times more than any other god arc, making it incredibly stronger than all other god arcs before it."

"Whoa", said Shio

"That's only the start", said Sakaki with a chuckle "Besides that the spear also possess all the elemental attributes, ensuring that no matter the aragami it faces, the weapon will have its elemental weakness".

"And the caveat is the way the charge attack works. Everytime James swings his spear about, it will gather energy. And when a minimum amount gathers, he can unleash a charged attack. The interesting thing here is that at the moment we have yet to find how much energy can be stored in the weapon so it means that there's no telling how strong the charge attack should be".

Alisa and Damien immediately turned to James who looked like a child given a shiny new toy.

"That doesn't mean you can swing it around like an idiot and just nuke everything you see", they shouted together, deflating his spirit.

"So what you're saying is this is the strongest god arc to have ever existed", said Alisa and the doctor nodded.

After spending a little while hearing Alisa and Shio cautioning James on how dangerous the new weapon was and how he had to be careful when using it in the field. There were many times when he wanted to interject, stating that James is not the clown he behaves but chose to remain silent.

After taking a turn and winding up in the lounge, he found Lindow who quickly called him to the briefing room whereupon he told the youth that they finally cornered the illusive aragami and tomorrow they would begin operations to hunt it down.

He then proceeded to show Damien a video of the aragami in question sleeping in the old temple. It was designated 'kyuubi' referring to the nine tailed fox seen in ancient Japanese cultures. The video showed it suddenly waking up in retaliation to the multiple monkeys that suddenly started appearing all around it.

The aragami then formed six tails of energy before releasing a barrage of lasers into the sky followed by it homing in on every single monkey that surrounded the kyuubi, killing them all before they had a chance to attack.

"Holy hell", said Damien with eyes wide open in horror.

"Yeah, it's not often we see an aragami with an intellect", said Lindow folding his arms "You still want to come with us tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we can't let something as dangerous as this thing run around", said Damien looking at the drone leave the area while the aragami went back to sleep now that the danger was gone.

"Alright then head back to your room and get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a tough one", he said.


	24. Chapter 24

Legendary Beast

"Her attack style definitely places her above the rest but she lacks the discipline and experience that James has", commented Ciel while she and Damien watched James and Shio train in the testing room.

Damien's morning took an interesting turn when he noticed Ciel watching something in the testing room. He was not at all surprised to see James and Shio in there but what caught his attention was the way they were training. In normal cases, both sides would hold back, simply testing each other out to see for any weaknesses in the defence but that was not the case here. The two faced each other like a pair of hated enemies, going all out from the start and attacking each other with the intent to kill.

"There", said Ciel and Damien saw Shio planting her foot into the ground trying to attack James but he noticed how weak her footing was, allowing him to knock her off balance and bring her to the ground.

"You two styles are pretty similar now that I think about it", said Ciel to Damien.

"How so?"

"I can't really put it in exact words", said Ciel trying to phrase it correctly "But when I see him fight, there are certain moves and forms that he takes that bear a striking similarity to yours Damien".

Damien now noticed the duo finishing their training session and walking out with a triumphant look on their faces, despite being covered in sweat. They immediately spotted the others and came over to talk to them.

"I heard you're going on an important mission today with Lindow", said James playfully elbowing Damien "How's it feel working with such a legendary god eater".

"I got over that stuff already", said Damien pouting a little.

"Uh-huh sure", remarked the older cousin "Well anyway, all I can say is good luck and try not to break a leg".

Trying not to wonder what he meant by that, Damien cleared his mind and after spending a few hours training, he met up with Lindow, Soma and Alisa in the lounge then headed out.

The team reached another abandoned part of the city and it did not take too long for them to find the Kyuubi. The aragami was marginally shorter than other dog types like the Garam and Marduk but the videos show that it made up for the size with incredible power. The four spread out, surrounding the aragami and closed in slowly. When they were near enough, they attacked from all sides but the aragami quickly got up and created a whirlwind around it, knocking the team back a good distance.

"Well guess that idea's gone down the drain", remarked Lindow firing a few shots but the aragami evaded it easily. It growled at its attacker, brandishing its steel shattering teeth before launching itself forward with the speed of a lawn dart. Lindow had barely enough time to dodge the attack even with Alisa and Soma's help.

Damien came at it with a swing from his sword but the aragami bent down low enough to avoid his blade. It shot back up and swung its paw out, sending a wave of black energy that crashed into the god eater. Alisa and Soma attacked next with the former firing a steady barrage of bullets while the latter drew closer to the target. In response to this, the aragami created swirls of dark energy around its feet then charged forward. The dark energy came around it, acting like a shield and made the Kyubbi a battering ram which smashed its way through the attacking god eaters.

Damien hissed in anger about to attack but the aragami seemingly anticipated his actions and turned around to fire a charged particle beam from its mouth. The teen dodged it by a good distance, but the heat coming from the beam served as a reminder of how dangerously hurt he could have gotten.

Damien now lobbed a flash bang at the aragam, giving him those precious few seconds needed to close the distance and allowed him to land the first strike on the target in the form of a superficial cut along its right side. The Kyuubi leapt back a little, growling fiercely at Damien then started coming towards him in a zig-zag pattern.

The aragami's attack would have been a success if not for the timely intervention of Lindow who struck the ground beside Damien, forcing it to back away. Just then Alisa and Soma tried to attack it from behind but the aragami leapt to the side to dodge it.

"This is just like that Dyaus Pita we first fought", she commented.

"All the more reason we put this thing down fast", snarled Soma and ran towards the aragami with Lindow beside him. The two of them attacked and the Kyuubi moved back to avoid it. However in that moment, Alisa and Damien took advantage of the opportunity and attacked it in the center of its chest, shattering the small plate of armour it had there.

The aragami tried to retaliate but was blocked by Lindow and Soma, allowing Damien and Alisa to capitalize on the opportunity. Slowly and steadily, they worked in concert, pushing the aragami back while also landing a few well placed wounds on its body.

Damien struck another blow on its back while Alisa struck its front leg. The two of them stood alongside Lindow and Soma ready to finish the target off.

As they drew closer, the aragami stood its ground then let out a terrifying roar before forming six tails of energy. In what felt like the blink of an eye, it fired a barrage of lasers at the team, sending everyone crashing into the ground.

Damien got up and had his vision obscured by the suddenly powerful aragami looming over him with its claws draped in energy, ready to strike. It was only on instinct that he wa able to raised his sword up in time but that too did little to mitigate the force of its attack which he felt echo throughout his whole body.

Lindow and Alisa attacked from both sides with a steady barrage of bullets but they all seemingly bounced off the target which shifted its attention from one to the other. Deciding Lindow to be the more dangerous one of the two, the aragami sprang forward with incredible speed. Lindow was able to block its tackle but it quickly leapt back and while in the air, fired another barrage of dark energy. The barrage was too haphazard, making it nearly impossible for him to dodge the attack. When it landed on the ground, it stood poised to attack but Soma intervened in time by thrusting his sword into the aragami's side, causing it to flail about in pain.

James now channeled his inner power, focusing it on his sword in an effort to unleash that destructive energy wave from before. Sensing this, the aragami tried to stop him but was blocked by Alisa and Soma.

The two defenders moved away so that Damien could swing his sword down and unleash a powerful energy wave that hit the target. The aragami was now heavily wounded, looking like it was nearing the end. Not wanting to miss a chance, all four of them came together and charged forward ready to finish the mission.

Their progress however was impeded when all of a sudden a bright light shone before them, blinding them and forcing all four to stop their advance. The light of course quickly faded, shockingly revealing James standing in-between the aragami and the team. The boy looked at the aragami first then to the others before showing his back to the team and slowly but carefully walking towards the aragami with his arms raised up.

"James", shouted Damien but the boy did not listen.

"You have every right to be scared", said James locking eyes with the aragami which did not attack but at the same time still remained as ferocious as ever.

"He's going to get killed", cried Lindow taking a few steps but James immediately shouted "Do not move", forcing the veteran to halt.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" shouted Damien.

"I know you have no reason to but I'm asking that you please trust me when I say I mean you no harm", said James continuing to draw closer and closer to the aragami.

The group all looked absolutely confused by what was going on and we're thrown further into confusion when James rested his hand on the aragami's wounded face and it did not attack. Instead it simply stood there, closing its eyes all of a sudden. James also stopped speaking and for a while, the aragami and human remained silent; as if communicating through the mind.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" asked Soma to Damien who shook his head

"There's never been a case of humans successfully interacting with aragami", added Lindow "Just what the hell is going on".

As if to answer the question, James opened his eyes and slowly walked back to the team, who were baffled at how his back was towards the fox but it did not retaliate or attack. It simply stood there, perhaps waiting for something.

"This mission is over", he said to the four "Call the base and tell them that I intervened and prevented you from killing the aragami".

"James you can't just say something like that so casually", shouted Alisa "And why are you letting that aragami go?"

"Because the kyuubi is not a hostile", he replied with complete confidence in its words "I've been reviewing the videos we've had of it and all cases show that it was attacked first and retaliated. Most of the time the aragami just wandered around, doing nothing to the others. In fact in the times that it's seen humans, it never attacked any of them and always chose to run".

"But that doesn't change one important fact", said Lindow "That's an aragami James, sworn enemy of humans. If you let it go, what's the guarantee that it won't kill an innocent human?"

"Lindow, we both know there's no such thing as white and black during war, even with an enemy like the aragami. Sometimes the people you think are your allies turn around and stab you and sometimes its your enemies that are actually your allies. There are plenty of times where our side has done things that made me question who really is right and wrong here."

"And like I said, this aragami never attacked anyone. Call it instinct, a gut feeling or pure stupidity but I believe that something's chasing this aragami and if we let it go now, we can count on its help in the future".

"James", said Soma "Think about this, clearly think about this. Not only is it an aragami but the cells inside that thing could help humanity for years to come".

"This isn't the first kyuubi we've seen and it won't be the last".

"You'll be put in prison for obstructing a mission", added Damien trying to make his cousin see sense.

"If that's what it takes to ensure the Kyuubi's safety then I'm all in", he said without any hesitation.

The team of four looked at James and for a moment they all contemplated on whether or not to attack and subdue him. Of course if they looked at his eyes, they were reminded how dangerous he was in combat. Even with the numbers against him, he would still prevail which was why they had only one option.

"HIbari", said Lindow into his communicator "The aragami managed to escape, mission's a bust". He now looked at James and said "You owe me big time for this".

"Wouldn't have it any other way", said James, his expression softening a little as he turned to the aragami and with a wave, the aragami left immediately.

The four of them headed back to base without saying another word. Officially the story was what Lindow said and they stuck to it. However in their minds they all wondered why James of all people would do something as crazy as protecting an aragami. This translated to an upset Alisa making James sleep on the sofa while Shio shared the bed with her.

Of course all their anger would soon fade away come next morning when they were awoken by a base wide alert. Everyone quickly sprung into action and headed to the base's entrance while hearing Licca on the speakers talking about an aragami that arrived at the entrance but didn't attack.

"AAAAHHHHH…. Wait", said James putting his spear down and looking at the aragami "You're the kyuubi from yesterday right?"

Strange as it was, the aragami that invaded the base and stood at the entrance of the far east branch was indeed the Kyuubi from before. Nearly everyone was too dumbfounded to say anything, while they watched it interact with James.

"Where's Shio?" he called back and none of them answered. Eventually she arrived and with her help, James placed his hand on her shoulder while she placed her hand on the aragami, thus forming a link and acting as a translator for the two.

"That's much better", said the Kyuubi in a soft feminine voice.

"Holy cow", said James now surprised "You can talk english".

"What is engrish?" asked the fox "You are speaking to me".

"It has something to do with our oracle cells", interjected Shio "Don't bother digging in too deep".

"Fair point, we'll let doctor Sakaki decide", said James "Are you the aragami from yesterday?"

"Yes", she answered

"Why have you come here?" asked James getting straight to the point as usual.

"It is because of your actions yesterday. I do not understand that out of the many humans I've seen, only you have not attacked me and chose to protect me. Why is that?"

"Not sure to be honest, just instinct or something in my mind telling me that I had to keep you safe".

"Do you mean us any harm?" he asked

"No, I don't want to attack you. The truth is I came here with a very important goal in mind".

"Which is?"

"I wish to join your pack".

"Que?" asked the boy now as surprised and as silent as the rest of the branch.


	25. Chapter 25

New teammate

"Huh?" said Shio

"HUH?" shouted James out loud rather than in his mind

"James did something happen?" asked Damien

"I'll get back to you on that", he replied nervously then turned back to the Kyuubi.

"You want to join my team?" he asked trying to wrap his head around this incredible statement.

"Yes," she replied with a pause "Is there something wrong with that?"

"A million things", he replied "For starters we're technically enemies."

"Then why did you save her?" asked Shio

"A spur of the moment decision", he lied.

"Still, that action is why we are here today. While we're speaking I have been looking into this girls memories and seeing all your past deeds and I must say, despite acting somewhat aloof and strange at the start, you have a very calm and shrewd mind."

"Not only that but your concern for your comrades is something that everyone appreciates and the lengths that you would to protect others is amazing to say the least…. James did you really defeat that many aragami?"

"Ah, you mean my little stroll on the moon. To be completely honest with you I lost count after the first week. That aside, I have to ask, you're a powerful and incredibly imposing aragami; why do you need protection?"

"You may or may not know this but I once belonged to a large pack and I was their leader. One of my steadfast rules was to never interact with humans as it could only lead to disaster. Unfortunately though, many in my pack disagreed with it and so eventually, I was overthrown and forced to flee. My successor was not the type to be merciful and tasked all in my pack to pursue me."

"Don't get me wrong, I want to help; in fact I'm thinking of ways to help you…"

"I can sense that…"

"The problem comes with whether or not its approved," continued James "I no longer have any objections but if Sakaki doesn't agree then…"

"Wait I thought you were the leader of this place", said the Kyuubi tilting her head to the side.

"Shio explain to her how the command structure works", said James and broke the connection. He looked at everyone else who all wanted answers but instead of giving it to them, he asked for Dr. Sakaki's presence.

Once the doctor arrived, James told them about his conversation and her request. What honestly surprised James was how divisive the issue had become.

"Absolutely not", said Alisa "I don't care how strong it is, an aragami is an aragami. We can't trust those things at all".

"That's not completely true", said Soma "There have been documented cases of aragami domestication but those are mostly ogre or vajra tails".

"Even then, how can we be sure the aragami won't suddenly turn", stated Lindow

"If it does turn then we'll just beat it", countered Nana

"You guys haven't fought one of those things in battle", barked Alisa "They have enough power to put the lion trio to shame. Hell I'm sure that even two seasoned teams would struggle against one of them".

"If what it's saying is true then it's all the more important that we learn about this one as much as we can so that when the pack does arrive we'll be thoroughly ready for it", said Sakaki.

"Doctor, does that mean what I think it does?" asked Alisa.

"James, tell the aragami that she can stay but I must impress upon you the following; while she is part of your team, you alone will bear responsibility for her and as such her integration to Fenrir will be your job".

"Very well sir. I shall strive to do my best and beyond", said James with a salute.

"I can't believe this", said Ciel looking at James then to the Kyuubi "We're… actually having an aragami join our team".

James relayed the news to Shio and the Kyuubi who were both happy that the situation was resolved without too much trouble.

"Thank you for taking this risk with me and I promise not to let you down", said the fox lowering her head".

"Before we continue, I think it's fair that we give you a name", said James "Do you have one?"

"No, our characteristics and personalities helped us distinguish one from another in the tribe. Why do I need a name?"

"Because calling you 'aragami' or 'kyuubi' sounds too impersonal in my books", he replied then snapped his fingers "Ah, I've got it".

"You're not calling her Fenrir", declared Shio and James paused.

"I… I wasn't… I wa…. I wasn't going…. to go with that name", he said hesitantly but his eyes told another story.

"How about Cliff?" he suggested after thinking about it some more.

"A name in reference to an overly large red dog that played with his human master", wondered the aragami "Very well, I shall accept that".

"Good and don't worry, you're not his pet or anything", said Shio "We're all equal in this team".

"Team", repeated James, his eyes going wide while he turned to Shio.

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT", he shouted while shaking the girl.

"What am I right about?"

"We now have three people, that meets the minimum requirements", replied James as he turned to Sakaki "Hey boss man, does that mean…"

Sakaki nodded in agreement and James gave a determined smile before turning back to Shio and Cliff then crossed his arms.

"With this our team is finally complete", he said with an eerily calm voice "Make no mistake you two, for the next two days I'm going to help you redefine the meaning of pain but when I'm through with you, not even an army of aragami's will be able to stop us".

AN: a brand new team, what does this mean for everyone in Fenrir?


	26. Chapter 26

Tunnel Vision

To say that having an aragami on the team was incredible was a great understatement. In almost no time, news spread through both the corporation and media outlets like wildfire and within two days, the far east branch was the centre of media attention.

Many news crews came to the branch to try and get a glimpse of the team that an aragami was now part of but so far, none of them had any luck. That was primarily because the trio managed to reopen the underground tunnel connecting the base to Aegis island and would use that way to go to their training spot without attracting any unwarranted attention.

As for the team itself, in an effort to 'build a stronger relationship' as James said it, both he and Shio now slept together and spent nearly all day with Clifford so that all the three of them could get to know each other better as a team. There were many times that James had to apologize to Alisa for not being able to spend much time with her.

"It's alright", said Alisa through the phone while Shio and Cliff continued trading blows.

"I swear I'll make it up to you", said James and Alisa smiled a little.

"James I understand this is important for you so don't feel bad alright".

"Thanks", he said sounding relieved "You're the best Alisa".

"Never forget it", she said with a chuckle then put the phone down.

"Are things okay though?" asked Damien when she turned around.

"Hmm oh yeah it is don't worry", said Alisa trying to assuage his fears "Before Cliff joined, James has been having a tough time finding a third teammate so he's been lisless for a while now. James is the sort of person that loves doing things as such, relaxing for long periods of time is his weakness so I'm honestly happy seeing him run around. It reminds me of how things were."

"How are things with you?" asked Alisa and Damien gave her a weak smile.

"As far as things go on paper, we're fine. We're doing missions at regular pace, getting more and more experience but I'm worried about the long run."

"What do you mean?"

"Among those affected by Romeo's death, Julius really took it to heart. He's been working himself to the bone to try and push the god arc soldier programme so much that he's ignoring his own health".

Before Alisa could ask the next question, Damien intercepted "I keep in touch with Fran whos volunteered to keep an eye on him."

"I haven't told the others about it but seeing as we're going to meet him and Yuno tomorrow about a relief concert, I'm worried that things might not go well".

Alisa offered Damien some advice on how to be a supporting figure to both Julius and the team and Damien made sure to note things of importance. Come tomorrow, the team gathered at the helipad before heading to Friar. Once they arrived, the met Yuno and headed inside the base.

On his first arrival, Damien felt that Friar treated its inhabitants with a sense of detachment. Despite the many staff that were there, he felt alone and out of place (a polar opposite to the far east which made him feel welcome from the get go). The only consolation came from a few friendly faces like Fran and some soldiers that he grew to call his friends.

Now however, there was no sign of any familiar faces. Even Fran who was known for working all known hours of the day was not seen.

"Where is everyone?" asked GIl saying what was on all their minds.

"Ah good you're here", said Julius coming up the stairs "We've only got a half hour to talk about the concert so let's go quickly".

He gestured for the others to join him in the lounge and the group, slowly but hesitantly followed him. Damien remembered the uneasy presence he felt when he first got here, only now it felt even worse than back then. He glanced down and was confused to see his right hand shaking, as if something was gnawing heavily in the back of his mind.

"So have we decided on the location?" asked Julius, not noticing that Damien had yet to arrive.

"Um, yes", said Yuno in an effort to get rid of the awkwardly professional feeling that hung in the area "I have some songs selected and have started practicing on it".

"Hey Julius", said Damien slowly coming down the stairs "What happened to Fran and the others?"

"Well most of the staff has been reassigned as you already know", said Julius "And Fran was feeling under the weather so I decided to give her the day off".

A believable story except for the fact that Fran never took a day off in her life. Damien remembered talking to her about how she once worked a full shift with her having a running nose and a thermos of chicken soup beside her. But he did not want to bring that up so he quietly took his seat and listened to Yuno.

All through the meeting, Damien noticed how distant and stand offish Julius remained, answering precisely and to the point, lacking any of the familiarity and friendliness he had before. It seemed that the others also noticed this and tried to ask him a few personal question but the teen artfully dodged them as he wished to finalize the details of the concert before anything else.

"You know we still have some time left", said Gil looking at his watch once the details were all hammered out "How have things been going on here?"

"They've been going well", said Julius "The soldiers are learning but not at the pace we're hoping for".

"'We?'" repeated Nana in confusion

"Yes, Dr. Rachel has been helping me a great deal in fine tuning the god arc soldiers".

"That's a bit strange", stated Ciel.

"I don't see how, she wants what is best for the world and right now that's the soldiers", said Julius then looked at his watch "I'm sorry but I have to report back now and continue my work".

"Wait Julius," called out Ciel

"Is something the matter?" he asked sounding more like a professional businessman than a teammate.

"Yes something's the matter", said Gil "We haven't seen you for weeks and when we do, you don't even want to sit in the same room with us for five minutes".

"I am working my hardest to ensure that the program is completed. Once that's done, none of us will ever have to wonder if they're going to die today", barked Julius.

"That's completely understandable but you're losing yourself in the process", stated Damien "You're not at all like the person we once knew".

"And what's wrong with that? If it means that hundreds upon hundreds of children are safe", he said then marched towards Damien.

"There has to be a better way for you to achieve your goals without having to ignore your friends".

"Well if you find one let me know", he said then turned around and took a few steps before Gil placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" asked Julius, his back still facing everyone but his voice was on the verge of an outburst.

"I don't know what the hell Rachel must have said to you but I'm not letting this go on", replied the oldest one on the team "You're coming with us and we're moving the research to the far east. You can continue work there, miles away from her".

"You have to the count of five to get your hand off my shoulder Gil".

"Guys please let's not do this", said Nana sounding anxious

"No, let's", said Gil but before he knew it, he was sent crashing into the ground.

"What the hell Julius?" barked Damien

"I warned him", he replied with a cold tone in his voice and headed to the elevator.

"You go after Julius", he said to Ciel and Nana "Yuno and I'll help Gil".

They nodded and separated after that. Yuno and Damien helped Gil to a sofa then found out that luckily nothing was damaged or injured. Gil did feel pretty winded after that but that was expected seeing as it caught him so off guard.

"But I don't understand", said Yuno "Why is he pushing you all away when you're only trying to help?"

"It's because of how much he blames himself for what happened to Romeo", replied Damien "Right now he feels lower than low and his only way of finding closure is to complete the program because in his mind if the god arc soldiers were complete, then a tragedy like that wouldn't have occured".

"But the problem is that he's become so focused on this that he doesn't care what happens to him and he's pushing away everyone that's concerned about him".

"Damien", said Gil rubbing his head a little "You seem pretty familiar with that, care to explain why?"

"Sorry buddy but one problem at a time", he replied then heard the sound of an elevator door opening. He turned to see Nana holding her arm with her head lowered and Ciel also in a similarly dejected posture.

"We tried to speak to him", said Nana, her voice nearly on the verge of tears "We really did try but he wouldn't listen…"

"And then…"

"I tried to go speak to him as well but the elevator stopped working for some reason", said Damien recollecting the story to James, Shio and Cliff.

"And you're sure he slapped Ciel?" asked Shio

"Positive", he replied but felt guilty for saying it out loud "With the way things are going, Rachel's got him wrapped around her twisted little finger and we need to break him free of that before its too late".

"I think I have an idea on how to make that happen", said James rubbing his chin "But you're not going to like it".

"That bad?"

"Yes but it's definitely going to succeed", he replied "While that's going on though, I need you to help Shio out with some information she's been digging into".

"Sure, if I can help in any way possible then I'm all for it", said Damien

"I need you to tell me everything you know about the Magnolia academy", she said.


	27. Chapter 27

A Julius divided

Through the application of forces that occupied power he could only dream of, Director Grem was informed from those on high of Rachel and Julius' work on the god arc soldiers. While on the whole everyone knew about the project but as far as the world was concerned, they were supposed to be piloted by soldiers and not acting on their own.

Thanks to this, Grem got some serious flak from those at the top for allowing Rachel to do whatever she wanted without any supervision. Luckily for him though, there were those who praised his actions, citing that this would certainly minimize the risk of collateral damage in the future but insisted to him that a proper demonstration of the god arc soldiers was necessary.

The real shocker came when one higher up suggested pitting the soldiers against a team of god eaters. Grem immediately tried to dismiss the idea as the strength difference alone between humans and the mechanical creatures was far too great. However his words fell on deaf ears as the idea became an immediate success among everyone in the meeting and it was decided that they would have a match with friar's god arc soldiers against a team that will be chosen at a later date.

"Nice to see you again", said James with a plastic smile plastered on his face when speaking to the person on the computer screen.

"It's done", said the man with a dark expression "The fight is going to happen… I'll later tout the idea of you leading the team, seeing as you've been gaining some acclaim recently".

"Good job", he said his smile growing wider but the tone in his voice was like how a master spoke to his pet "Yes and I'll select my team mates as well".

"Fine", said the man with defeat in his voice

"Well I'll be expecting a visit from Grem soon. Thanks for your hard work, dismissed".

Before the man could say anything else, James switched off the monitor and ended the call. He turned around and saw Alisa stirring a little in bed but that was about it. He slowly made his way over there and stood quietly watching her sleep. Had she not taken the first step that night, James wondered if the two of them would have ever been a couple.

He reached out with his right hand, aiming to stroke some of the hair from her face but stopped when his fingers were only a few centimeters away. It only now occurred to him that he did not wear gloves that night which was why he quietly moved back.

He took a moment to steal one last look at her sleeping form before heading out the door and back to where Shio and Cliff were sleeping.

0

Damien's day started off on an 'iffy' note. Instead of doing his morning training like normal, he went to Ciel's room. The girl was visibly disturbed by Julius' outburst from yesterday and still had not settled down from that.

"Thank you Damien", she said sipping the cup of tea he made for her while Damien sat on a chair opposite. From her discipline and way she carried herself, Damien was honestly surprised to see that Ciel's room was pretty 'girly'. The sheets and pillows were in a light colour, there were a few stuffed animals by the corner and even a few pictures in a frame on her desk.

"It must be a bit of a surprise seeing my room isn't it?" said Ciel with a smile. Damien immediately stopped looking all around and quickly tried to tell her that he wasn't staring or anything.

"I understand why you'd be surprised", she said calming him down a little "I do tend to behave pretty straight laced and by the books. Add to that my desire to always improve my guns".

"By the way.." she said pausing and looking at Damien "Don't you normally do your training at this time?"

"Yeah but there was something else more important that I had to do first", said the teen. The other reason he could not do any training was because the trio of Cliff, Shio and James were already there.

Ciel stared at Damien a little bit, wondering what would cause this break in his character, then it dawned on her. Feeling her face become a little hot, she immediately lowered her head, not wanting him to see her turn red like this.

0

The duo had breakfast together followed by them meeting Nana and Gil in the lounge. The look on their faces said it all, so Damien took the initiative by having them head to his room so that they could talk in private.

While that was going on, Grem arrived by helicopter and made his way to the director's room. He ignored anything Hibari said, wishing to do his job as quickly as possible. He shoved the door wide open but the colour drained from his face when he saw Sakaki sitting in his seat but in the seat opposite to him was James.

"You", said the Director, nearly choking on his words.

"Hello Director", said James with an unusually calm tone in his voice "We were just talking about you".

"It is true, come have a seat", said Sakaki and Grem hesitantly did as told. The two watched him silently for a while before Sakaki asked "Well I take it you're here to say something".

"Ah, yes, yes I was", he said adjusting his collar a little "I've received an honour from on high for a demonstration of the god arc soldiers powers. They want a team from the Far East branch to go up against the soldiers".

"So this is what you were talking about", said Sakaki to James who nodded.

"And they specifically requested that Vanguard", added the Director quickly shooting a look of disgust at James before he noticed "Be leading the team".

"Any particular reason why I was selected?" asked James acting surprised.

"Don't play games with me", said Grem nearly sneering at the youth "You and I both know why they selceted you".

"My, my James", said Sakaki "I didn't know you had friends in those circles".

"IS that right?" asked Grem with a raised eyebrow then turned back to James

"The good doctor only knows the first half of my story", said James calmly.

"And even then it's not the whole picture", added Sakaki.

"So I get my own little team to go take out those lunks of metal", said James with an amused look "This should be fun".

"And by the way director", he added halfway out of his seat "I know you're the one who put my cousin in prison but rest assured I'm not going to do anything at all".

The two watched James leave then waited a couple of seconds before Grem asked what was on his mind.

"How are you able to control James so well?" he asked starting to pant uncontrollably "We've tried so many times to reign him in and none of its worked".

"That boy is the human equivalent of a natural disaster, in that he can't be controlled by anyone. I usually give him free reign, letting him do whatever he wants. Luckily for me, James likes it here which is why everything he's done has been for the benefit."

Grem looked like he wanted to say something else but instead visibly swallowed his words before standing up and adjusting himself a little then headed to the door.

"Ah one question", said Sakaki before he left "Is James a human?"

"Not one bit", replied the director without any hesitation in his voice then left.

While James was busy telling everyone about the test, meanwhile in Friar, Julius remained locked in his room and kept remembering the outburst he had in-front of his teammates. If that was not enough to disturb him, striking his best friend and most loyal supporter affected him most of all.

Try as he might to forget and ignore the words from his friends, they continued to play back again and again in his mind. This caused the former leader to suddenly question himself and wonder whether what he was doing was right or not.

He heard a sudden knock on the door followed by Rachel slowly coming inside.

"Julius what's wrong?" she asked surprised to see him sitting against a wall with a forlon look on his face.

"Rachel," he said weakly when she came closer "I'm starting to think that Damien and the others were right".

"What do you mean?" she asked

"I'm still haunted by what happened to Romeo. Instead of talking about it with my friends I decided to internalize all my pain and grief and throw myself fully into the god arc soldier programme."

"That's a good thing Julius", she said stroking his hair back "You're doing this so that no one would suffer the same fate as Romeo."

"This shouldn't be something that causes an irreparable rift between the team and I", he stated

"It is a small price to pay Julius", she said slowly getting off her wheelchair and pulling Julius into a gentle embrace "What you're doing is not for your sake or for my sake. It is for all the hundreds of mothers and fathers out there who watch helplessly as their children are needlessly killed in the line of duty."

"What you're doing will protect humanity and ensure our future for many years to come", she added and stroked his hair.

Julius said nothing in response. All he did was bury his face deeper into his surrogate mother. Rachel however had a dark expression on her face. Ever since Damien joined the team, he had done nothing but impede her progress in as many ways as possible. At first she did not pay it any mind as his actions only affected Ciel and the others but now that it was causing Julius to question himself, her plans were in jepoardy.

The girl silently made a promise to herself to devote all her time and effort into ridding the world of Damien Andronight.

AN: Ok so plenty of story. Next chapter we're going to have another fight not seen in the original story which will kick start the action part of this FF.


	28. Chapter 28

The dream team

"Sakuya", shouted James gleefully like a child as he leapt forward, intending on embracing Sakuya after she got off the elevator. Trouble was, Shio was faster than him and was already embracing one of her older sisters, leading James to grasp empty air before falling to the ground.

"Still as energetic as ever huh James", she said with a smile while stroking Shio's hair.

"Damn right", he said getting up "By the way I'm really thankful that you could come for this mission".

"What other choice did I have?" she asked "Lindow told me that the mission was doomed to fail if you didn't have the 'greatest sniper in the whole world' backing you up".

"That part is true".

"I also heard you got your own team as well, why not bring them in?"

"Reasons", he replied without a trace of childishness in his voice. James asked Sakuya to meet him and the others in the briefing room then left ahead of her.

"I think its weird too", said Shio, confusing Sakuya

"When James suddenly goes all mature", she said, elaborating on her earlier statement.

"You're not the only one", said Sakuya and headed to the meeting room.

The team consisted of Lindow, Alisa, Sakuya and James. Soma obtained the design specifications of the god arc soldiers and worked with James to analyze all possible avenues of attack. Soma also found out that the god arc soldiers will not be piloted remotely or by someone inside. Instead they had information from Julius and the rest of blood's fighting styles as a base and would use that to make decisions on the battlefield. James outlined his plan to everyone, which was definitely one of his craziest plans to date. Of course when asked about the chances of success, the leader of the team was confident that victory was possible.

"Trust me, just follow the plan to the letter and we'll win", he said to the team while they were in the helicopter, heading to the testing grounds.

00000000

Just as the team expected, the testing grounds was a vast open ground. They could see the ruins of buildings here, indicating that this place was once a city. After dropping them off, they were led to an underground bunker and met with some of Fenrir's directors. The old men all had an interest in all members of the team (Lindow for his survival, Soma for his intellect, Sakuya for her accuracy and Alisa for her rate of improvement.

They did however avoid James entirely, opting to focus their attention on the rest of the team. In fact all of them noticed that when they saw James, everyone froze in fear for about two seconds before returning to their normal selves.

Rather than dwell on that subject longer than they should have, the team headed to the testing ground where Julius stood on the opposite side, towering behind him were the god arc soldiers with their heads lowered, indicating that they were powered down.

"Nice to see you again Julius", said James trying to sound cordial "How have you been?"

"I'd like to chat James but as you can see now is not the time for that", said Julius pressing something on his tablet and brining the god arc soldiers to life.

Located in another bunker, Rachel and Leah quietly watched the god arc soldiers take their weapons out and stand before Julius.

"Rachel", said Leah stroking her chin "Do you think that they can beat them?"

"Of course I do", said Rachel talking down to her sister "We took Kujo's work and improved on it in ways that fool couldn't even imagine. The soldiers are more responsive to Julius' controls and have all his skills in combat. Compared to him, the great retaliation unit are nothing at all.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because out of everyone there", replied Leah "James is the only one without his god arc".

"Trust me", said James holding his hands up "If I brought my god arc here, then this fight would have ended in ten seconds".

"That's quite a bold claim to make", said Julius sounding a little angry.

"It's the truth", said James noticing this "Some people can't seem to understand that".

"And some people are far too drunk off their own accolades that they fail to improve with the times", countered the blood unit leader.

"Well time will tell who's right and who's wrong here", said James with a shrug then turned around and walked back to his team "I do hope you're ready for what's coming".

The rules of the same were pretty simple. Do whatever you needed to defeat your opponent. The type of match they were playing was one similar to chess. The leaders were the kings and the others were their own respective piece. Victory came from completely defeating one side or taking down the king alone.

"Soma", he said now pressing the communicator in his ear "You reading me?"

"Yeah, I got you all on my com. We are good to go".

"Alright gang, remember stick to the plan", he said to the trio "And by the way from now on Lindow's call sign is bishop, Alisa will be knight and Sakuya you're castle".

"You ready?" called out Julius

"You bet", said James and in a moment the quiet ruins of the world were hit with a loud air raid horn, indicating it was time to start the fight.

James immediately lobbed a flashbang into the air, blinding his opponents. When Julius opened his eyes, he found that none of the team were there and had fled to some of the surrounding ruins.

"This is castle, I'm in place".

"Bishop and knight awaiting orders".

"By the way", said Sakuya "What's your call sign James? Don't tell me its king or something?"

"Nah nothing that gaudy. I'm the pawn", he said with a calmness in his voice that seemed out of place in the situation.

00000000

Julius had to maintain constant surveillance on his soldiers. He understood that the plan James would undoubtedly go for would be to have the team gang up on one soldier, thus lowering the numbers. If they gain the number advantage, his team would be in peril. That was why he had all three soldiers stick close together, maintaining line of sight with each other at all times.

Julius noticed Lindow emerge from one of the ruins and attack with a thrust. The soldier moved aside to avoid the strike and wound up standing in Alisa's path. The girl wasted no time in attacking the soldier with a downward slash, landing a deep blow on its chest.

The two other soldiers quickly came to aid their comrade but by the time they did, Lindow and Alisa had vanished. Julius then spotted a glint of light in one of the roofs near the soldiers and ordered all of them to head to that location immediately. When they landed however, the ground gave way causing the soldiers to crash into the lower levels.

"Damn it get out of there now", he barked and one of the soldiers immediately leapt out, only to have its right shoulder blown off by a sniper bullet. That soldier tried to head back to where the rest of the team were only to see Alisa standing before it. It swung its massive sword at the girl but she bent back to dodge the attack then retaliate with a swing aimed at the legs. The sword cut through its armour, forcing the soldier to the ground while Lindow came up on it from behind and thrust his sword through and through the target.

It was only now that the other two soldiers arrived but by now the damage was done. The two soldiers charged at Alisa and Lindow but one was shot in the foot by the sniper. In response to this, both of them shifted to gun mode and fired a huge barrage of energy bullets in the direction of the shot, annihilating the roof of a nearby building.

"Sakuya", shouted Lindow worriedly as one of the soldiers shifted to its sword and rammed the flat side of the weapon into Lindow's side, sending him rolling away. It was about to attack again when its foot was shot by a bullet.

"What the hell?" cried Julius in shock. Judging from the angle of the bullet, it meant that the shooter fired from directly above but there was no building or anything there. Julius struggled to understand how someone could have pulled off a shot like that and still stay hidden afterwards. Julius turned around and was even more surprised to see Lindow was no longer lying in the ground.

From both sides Lindow and Alisa attacked with straight thrusts. Julius had his soldiers leap into the air to quickly avoid them. Once in the air though, the soldier on the right failed to see Sakuya smile as she pressed the trigger on her gun, firing a bullet that shattered the chest armor of her target. Seeing this opportunity, Lindow flung his god arc into the exposed part of the soldier, impaling it and putting it out of commission almost instantly.

The only remaining soldier left saw an unarmed Lindow and took the opportunity. It attacked with a downward strike, intending to end this fight but Lindow raised his right arm up. When the soldier's sword made contact with the gauntlet, it shattered and revealed his infected arm.

What many didn't know was that though the arm would be forever deformed by its change in colour, this change also granted Lindow's arm five times the strength of a normal arm, allowing him to pull off a few surprises now and then.

Thanks to this, he was able to block the attack from the soldier and in the moment between the soldier realizing it was blocked to it retaliating, Alisa lopped its head clean off its body.

The soldier fell to the ground, offering no resistance at all

"How is that possible?" asked Julius absolutely astounded at how the god arc soldiers were dispatched.

"Pretty scary don't you think?" asked James.

"What the hell? Did you hack into my communicator?"

"Hmm, it could be that. Then again it could be something else".

Julius felt something touch his shoulder and from it a wave of fear washed over his body. Slowly and hesitantly he turned around and saw James standing behind him, looking calm as ever.

He clenched his fists, about ready to swing out but James' right arm shot forward, stopping only a few centimeters from his face.

"How did you do it? The god arc soldiers are supposed to be perfect", said Julius struggling to come to grips with what just occurred "How did you beat them so easily?'

"Because they're computers", replied James in a matter of fact way. "While it is true that computers can process information much, much faster than humans can, they can't adapt as fast as humans do. Tricks, traps, feints and combinations are all things that those onboard computers cannot wrap their digital heads around."

"Now don't get me wrong, the day when god arc soldiers will replace god eaters is a day I welcome but the need for having a human controller to direct their moves is always important as only they can adapt to an ever changing battlefield."

"Of course you would have known that had you actually listened to your friends and not dive into work", added James and Julius looked at him in surprise.

"Your intentions were good, there's no question about that. But when it came to the point that your work was pushing you further and further away from your team… that's when you should have realized that a line had to be drawn".

Julius lowered his head in defeat and stayed that way for a while. When he looked at James, he had this tired but relieved expression.

"You're right", he said while Lindow and Alisa made their way towards the two "I should have realized it sooner".

"Well good news is you figured it out now. It's still not too late to mend those bridges".

0000000000

"Are you sure it was okay to trounce Julius like that?" asked Damien to James after they had dinner and were seated in the lounge.

"Of course it was, that way he'd see the error of his ways and would be back to being your friend. Not only will that boost bloods morale as a whole, it'll also be the final item needed to move forward with my other plan".

"OH GOD, don't tell me you want to go to the moon again", exclaimed Damien and only received a glare from James.

"Nothing that insane, not yet at least. I've been tasked by Dr. Sakaki to launch an off the books investigation into Rachel and Leah Claudius ever since the death of Romeo".

"And what have you found?"

James took a deep breath and began explaining everything that Shio and he uncovered.


	29. Chapter 29

Moving Shadow

James scanned through the information at breakneck speed while Damien noticed Kota and his team along with Yuno enter.

"Is it okay to bring a civilian here?" asked Damien.

"I wanted to help that's why I insisted on being part of this rescue", said Yuno "If what you're suggesting is true, then you'll need all the help you can get in rescuing the children."

"How much did you tell her?" snarled Damien to Kota who buckled under the gaze.

"What does it matter now?" asked Emil in a stately manner "Our goal is the rescuing of all the innocent lives held in that base. As such the more people we have the better".

As he said that, Lindow and the rest of his team arrived. With all members of the team present, James began the briefing.

The information that he dug up on Rachel was two-fold; first was Magnolia compass. On the surface it was an orphanage that gave children the tools they needed to go out into the world. But the truth is that Rachel had secretly been performing experiments on the children, injecting them with varying strains of a virus she made from oracle cells. Even after Magnolia compass closed down later on, reports indicate that her work on children has not stopped. To what end though James honestly stated he did not know.

"It's the second part that you all should be interested in", said Damien while James moved to the second item on his list; Romeo's death.

After thorough investigation and plenty of digging from Shio and James, they managed to find that the gate which the Marduk entered was made to open by means of hacking. It traced back to an external source which they found was inside Friar. Considering Romeo's personality, one by one they eliminated all the possible culprits till only two remained.

"Thanks to this, we have been authorized by the directors from on high to arrest and detain the Claudius sisters till a full investigation can be done. When we reach friar, we'll be splitting up into two teams. Team will will perform the arrest while team two starts the rescue".

"Based on what we know about Friar, our best guess is that the children are in the lower levels of the base, close to where the god arc soldiers are being made. Team two will proceed to free the children while team one will arrest Rachel and Leah."

"Team one will consist only of Damien and myself. The rest of you are on team two", he said and continued the briefing with a little mention that they should have their guard up at all times. There was every possibility that Rachel knew they were coming. With that said, the meeting was dismissed and the teams started preparing.

None of them said anything or voiced their doubts for good reason. Given how skilled the two were at dealing with aragami when separated, the two could easily overcome any threats when working together. Alisa later found the two in James' room and was surprised to see the pair checking a pair of loaded pistols before holstering it. She then noticed the knives and grenades they carried, prompting the question "Are you two preparing for an arrest or storming a fort?"

"The former but it's safe to be prepared for the latter", replied James, setting a set of knives in his shirt before putting on his jacket.

"Oh come on James, they're both humans. You don't need to take that many precautions".

"Sorry Alisa but I have to agree with James on this one", said Damien "From the moment I arrived, that Rachel's always given me a bad vibe. This only proves that I was right".

James looked at himself in the mirror, possibly to ensure that his weapons were concealed. Once that was confirmed, he looked to Alisa and asked her if she was ready to which she nodded in agreement.

The trio then headed to the lounge where all the teams had gathered. Shio informed James that she'd be heading to the base on Cliff's back and would be carrying James and Damien's god arc in case things got bad. After that, they boarded the helicopters and headed to Friar.

(note, all the following events happen at the same time)

"What are you doing Julius?" asked Rachel looking confusedly at Julius who now had a few suitcases packed and was about to close the last one.

"I'm moving to the Far East branch. I can continue my research there while also hunting aragami", he said closing the suitcase "This venture has caused me to go down a dark road Rachel and it's time I turn around before it's too late".

"But what about your infection?" she asked slowly wheeling herself towards him.

"I'll tell them about it right away and undergo the necessary treatment."

"But they'll confine you Julius. They'll keep you away from me and force you to undergo all kinds of tests".

"If that's how it should be Rachel then that's fine with me", he said not noticing how dark Rachel's expression had become.

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"Thank god you're here", said Fran in relief upon seeing Ciel followed by the team along with cradle and the first unit. Fran then yelped out in shock when she saw cliff appearing but Ciel told her that she shouldn't be scared.

"Its on our side?" asked Fran after getting the brief explanation "And vanguard's alive?"

"We can talk about all that stuff later", urged Gil "Where are the kids?"

Snapping back to reality, Fran led the teams to the room where the kids were being kept. She carefully turned off the monitors so that the medical implements shoved into their bodies could be removed without causing any trouble.

"Damn it", said Lindow, looking at the child he held in his arms as he, Alisa and Soma headed to one of the trucks that Sakaki brought to take the kids.

"What's wrong?"

"This kid's about the same age as Ren. I can't believe someone would do this to them".

"Hey, now is not the time for revenge Lindow", said Soma "First we rescue the kids, then we make that woman pay".

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"See out of everyone in the world, James and I get really pissed off when we find people using children for experiments", said Damien walking the room while James had Leah Claudius pinned against a wall, his right arm digging into her neck while he pointed a gun to her head with his other hand.

"As things stand you're in deep shit here boss lady. Fenrir's top brass will crucify you to the media if it means saving their skins. You'll never be allowed anywhere near lab so the only chance you have at any redemption right now is telling us what your sister has planned".

Leah would then yell out in terror when James fired a bullet into the ceiling.

"Fair warning, my comrade here is not known for being patient. His trigger finger gets real itchy around people like you", added Damien casually "Hey James, how about shooting her in the foot to loosen her lips, I'll let you decide which one".

"Ok, ok I'll talk I swear, just let me down", said Leah who looked like she was about to cry. James and Damien looked at each other with the latter shaking his head.

"Tell us everything and then we'll let you go", stated Damien.

"She wants to start the apocalypse, that's what everything's been about. She was using Magnolia compass to find a candidate suitable enough to become the singularity."

James unknowingly let her go upon hearing those words. Leah slumped to the floor but dared not to move for fear of him reacting.

"You know what she's talking about?" asked Damien

"The singularity…" he replied pausing as he turned to Damien "Is very, very bad. We cannot let that little demon go through with her plans".

"Where is she?" he asked to Leah who looked away.

"WHERE IS SHE?" barked Damien firing a bullet that was only a few centimeters from her face.

"She went to Julius' room to try and stop him from leaving", she screamed as the whole place started to shake.

The two of them looked at each other and realized they had no time to waste. Damien headed to the stairs while James knocked out Leah then carried her on his back and followed Damien.

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"What's going on now?" shouted Kota as he and the others could struggled to stand up because of the earthquake.

"You think it's an earthquake?" asked Alisa to Soma who shook his head.

"It's starting", said Shio while lines of energy started forming on her body, shocking everyone that saw this "The end of all things, the destroyer is coming."

"Oh damn it", hissed Kota "Please don't tell me…"

"A devouring apocalypse", said Alisa and Kota wailed at the response

"Whoa, whoa hold on a second here", said Gil "What the hell's a devouring Apocalypse?"

"Bad news", said Soma "It's the thing that my old man tried to do a few years ago. Lindow, grab Shio and let's get the hell out of here".

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"It seems that you are too late to stop this", said Rachel with a cold smile while stroking the unconscious and glowing body of Julius who's head rested on her lap. "Though I had to hasten some of my plans a little, in the end it was all worth it".

"You talk too much", said Damien as he and James both pointed their guns at her and fired. The bullets that should have riddled her face were instead stopped by an invisible force.

"The hell?"

"How kind of you Julius to protect your mother from these evil children", she said looking lovingly at Julius "Sorry to say this boys but its time for you to leave. My Julius and I have a lot of catching up to do".

Damien took a step forward but James grabbed him by the arm, wordlessly communicating that they had to go. The teen growled angrily at the circumstances before departing.

"We're bringing him back", said Damien as they leapt off three flights of stairs, landing easily on the ground.

"Damn right", said his cousin

"And I get first crack at Rachel's smug face", added Damien.

The duo quickly made their way down to the lower levels where they met up with the others and proceeded to help. Damien was carrying a child when he noticed a monstrous looking aragami suddenly barreling towards him on all fours. Damien stood his ground, getting ready to dodge the first strike but the aragami's path was impeded when James appeared from the side, punching it in the face and sending it back a good distance.

Damien stood agape, wondering how his cousin was able to pull off a truly superhuman feat like that.

"The hell are you doing there with your trap wide open?" barked James to him "Get out of here now."

"What about you?" he shouted as the aragami slowly got to its feet.

In response to the question, James stretched his left hand out as if waiting for something. Damien turned in the direction of the exit and saw something thin shoot past him at incredible speeds. He was even more surprised to see James catch the speeding object with his extended arm.

"Whoa when did you get here?" asked Lindow then let out a loud yell of surprise when he saw the aragami that looked like a patchwork of metal and flesh.

"Ass kicking now answers later", said James running forward and attacking with a wide slash, forcing the aragami to move back instead of attack "I'll buy you time to get the kids out."

AN: oh sweet we're getting to the end of the first arc. More action to come so stay tuned.


	30. Chapter 30

AN: I would first like to apologize for not updating this FF as frequently as before. I recently started another FF based on DDLC and its been blowing up like crazy. So I will try to balance the two because this is an equally important FF to me.

Vanguard Assemble

While they were busy moving kids out into the transport vehicles Sakaki had obtained, everyone paused at least for a few seconds to see how James was doing against the new aragami.

As stated before, it looked like a patchwork of different aragami parts with a long head, female face, different arms and legs as well as some torn wings on its back. It slid back and opened its chest to reveal four orbs of energy which it fired at James. The god eater of course did not run or dodge, instead stood his ground and sliced the orbs in half with a single strike.

Out of everyone here, Damien knew better than anyone how strong his cousin was. But to see him standing toe to toe with a new type of aragami and holding his own against it was shocking, to say the least. The aragami had had enough, letting out a defiant roar towards James before it created an energy knife in its right hand and charged forward. It swung out multiple times but James deflected them all with either blade or the base of his new spear.

"Well that was fun", he said pointing his spear at the target then ran towards it. The aragami leapt over him and in the air its elongated mouth shot forward but James rolled to the side to avoid it. Before its head could retract he swung his spear out, landing a deep wound on the aragami's face.

It fell to the ground roaring in pain before it got up and made a break for the evacuees.

Just like before though, it would not reach its target thanks to Shio and Cliff crashing into it from the side, sending it barrelling into the base.

"We were getting bored waiting for you", said Shio to James.

"Alright then, let's take care of this thing fast so we can get to the real problem", said James and Shio nodded.

The trio turned their attention back to the aragami in question that was now charging towards them. Shio and James moved to the left and right respectively while Cliff stood her ground, then leapt into the air just as it neared.

Before the aragami could react, Shio and James returned with each one striking one of its limbs thus forcing it to the ground. If that wasn't enough Cliff fired a few concentrated bursts of energy from her mouth before landing on its back and ripping the wings off the target.

The aragami flailed about trying to shake her off but the three of them were not interested in giving it a moment's respite. With a swing from his spear, James lopped off the creatures front leg. Shio battered it's face and chest with a barrage of bullets before converting to her short sword and landing blow after blow on its chest. Clifford tore off its feet, thus preventing it from running away.

With its last desperate act, it used its one remaining arm to hit the ground, causing pillars of light to form randomly across the battlefield. The trio were able to avoid getting hurt thanks to how fast they were moving.

When it was done, Cliff shot forward like a bullet, grabbing the aragami in her mouth and tossing it high into the air. Shio and James ran up Cliff's back then leapt off just as the aragami began its descent. Both Shio and James waited till the falling aragami was close enough and swung their weapons, slicing it clean in two.

"Not the time Cliff", shouted James to Cliff to keep her from eating the downed aragami. They noticed more and more of the base was starting to collapse which added to their quickened pace.

It was times like these where James was lucky to have a giant aragami on his side when Clifford picked Shio and him up in her mouths and ran faster than either of them, thus allowing the team to get out before their entrance collapsed.

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Once they got back to the base, Sakaki appraised them of the situation. Now that Julius had awakened as the singularity, Rachel was going to use him to jump start the devouring apocalypse. If that was not enough, he also added that aragami from all over the far east were now making their way toward Firar, for what purpose though he did not say.

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Lindow "Let's just go back there and stop Rachel instead of standing here".

"And how do we do that without harming Julius in the process?" asked James "Our primary objective might be to stop the apocalypse but the secondary objective is to rescue former blood captain Visconti".

"Actually I think I have an idea on how to do that", said Soma scratching his chin then standing up "James can you still use that hyper resonance thing?"

"Yeah of course I can".

"I think our best option is to replicate the same thing you did on the moon with Nova", said Soma "If need be, we can use Damien's enhancement ability to boost your own powers".

"It sounds like a good idea", said Alisa worryingly "But we're going to be up to our necks in aragami from all sides".

"Leave that to my team", said James "Cliff and Shio are ready for this".

"James even they can't take on so many aragami at once", objected Kota

"Which is why we're bringing in all hands on this mission", said James "This joint mission will involve the blood unit, cradle unit, first unit and team vanguard".

"The only possible way for the swarm to enter is through the main entrance. So what we're going to do is have the vanguard team form a line and take on as many aragami as they can. Those that slip past them will be dispatched by the first unit and cradle. While this goes on the blood unit will attempt to establish contact with Julius and separate him from Rachel's control before the apocalypse can start".

"Sounds about as good as any of our other crazy plans", said Kota "What are we waiting for?"

"While the others were getting ready, James headed to the infirmary to find Damien standing alongside Yuno who were talking to all the infected children. Though he did his best to look normal and calm, Damien only needed to look at him and realize that he didn't come here for idle chit chat.

The teen excused himself from the room and met his cousin outside who explained the whole plan.

"So when are we starting this mission?" he asked

"Ideally we'd like to start it within the hour but I want the teams to have something to eat first before going into that madness", he replied.

"I'll go tell the others to get some food quickly and we'll be ready in half an hour or 45 minutes at the most", he said heading off to the god eater's quarters.

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True to his word, Damien was able to get the team ready within the span of half an hour. They were soon joined by the Vanguard team followed by cradle and the retaliation unit. With all four teams ready, they headed back to Friar to finish the mission.

Rachel may have caught them off guard with her plans but that would end here. The teams had every intention of stopping her plans no matter how many aragami stood in their way.


End file.
